Chapter Text
Burning. Burning. The whole planet was on fire. Hot, stinking, thick, choking. Clogging the nose, the throat, the eyes. And on the horizon, the fortress. The prison. The dungeon. Doom and death. Pain and torture. Must keep running, no matter how the bare feet burn. He was coming. Closer and closer. No where to hide. No where to turn. There was nothing on this planet. It was a trap. A trap. Escape had been a trap. Weeks. Months of planning only to run from one cell to another. The whole planet was a prison. There was no escape. He was coming. Closer and closer. His cruel laughter echoing off the rocks, the very earth shaking with the screech of it.
Oh gods.
“Maul?”
The young boy stopped in his tracks as the new voice rang out like the toll of a morning bell, strong and sweet. He tilted his head, narrowed his stinging eyes against the smoke. Who was she? Where was she? Was this another of the old man’s tricks?
She called again. His name! His name! It sounded beautiful and true when she said it. Maul knew he had to find her, run to her, save them both from this dreadful place.
“Maul!”
His eyes snapped open to reveal an ashy predawn gray settled upon a flat gray world. Tano was staring down at him, her eyes full of concern, and he was curled at her side like a napping pet. Her hand was on his shoulder. All his awareness moved to that point of contact but, for the first time, he did not immediately shrink away from it.
“Are you ok?” she asked.
An excellent question. Events from the previous evening came rushing back. Yet another near death experience paired with a brief dip into madness had lead to—
We’re in this together and I don’t want you to die.
Ugh, perhaps the dream was better than this. Maul squeezed his eyes shut. He did not know how to face her this morning, did not know how to manage this situation moving forward. His instincts told him to be dodgy and dismissive, use cruelty to create distance. Push her away, make her doubt herself, and then ultimately betray her. Obviously! He had opened up to her last night, exposing a weak spot. May as well have guided her weapon straight through the gap in his armor to his soft underbelly. Anyone else would exploit such a revelation. Everyone else already had. And yet…
I don’t want anyone else in my life to die.
These words were simple and small but he held them with a soft sort of wonder and curiosity. Like a fragile jeweled insect in his clumsy hands. She saw him as a… someone. And he was in her life. Gods, he was pathetic.
“Maul, are you alright?” she asked again. Her small hand was still perched on his shoulder. He felt oddly grounded by the warmth and weight of it.
He took a deep breath and slowly, gingerly rolled into a sitting position. He did not want to disturb her hand from its resting place but she withdrew it regardless. Maul shook his head as though to clear it and mumbled, “‘M fine.”
Tano watched him, her dark lips pulling into a straight line. And she waited. Maul chewed the insides of his cheeks and felt a flush of shame or some other confusing emotion to which he was not accustomed. The woman had saved him from a thousand years of torment in the belly of the sarlacc and then spent the entire night watching over him as he tossed and turned like a child, and now she was waiting to see if he threw a fit about it in the morning. Maybe she was also unsure of how to proceed in this uncharted territory. Well, he would show her! He could be civil and appreciative! Maul drummed his fingers on his durasteel knees, cleared his throat, and then muttered, “I do not sleep well. I never have. I am… plagued by visions.”
“Nightmares?”
“Memories.”
“Oh,” she said softly. The white markings on her forehead pinched together. He assumed she was sorting through the bits and pieces he had told her last night, trying to ascertain which horrific moment currently haunted him. He expected follow up questions and demands for explanations but instead she simply pulled back her hood and yawned before saying, “I haven’t been sleeping well, either. Tons of nightmares.”
“About what?” he asked before he could stop himself.
She glanced at him. He tried to appear like a normal man who could have a normal conversation. “Anakin,” she sighed with a shrug. “Padmé. The twins. Or… well, I keep dreaming about this place I’ve never been. It’s like an entire planet of fire. There’s so much smoke in the air, I can barely breath.”
This caught him off guard and the name of the planet escaped his lips in a growl, “Mustafar.”
Her eyes grew wide as she said, “That’s where Obi-wan told me he killed Anakin. What do you know of it?”
“I was raised on Mustafar,” Maul muttered as the dreadful memories dragged at his mind like a cruel tide. “It was my Master’s stronghold.”
Her eyes managed to open even wider as she stared at him in horror. Behold, fair maiden, the monster before you!
“You grew up there?” she gasped. “Is that where Sidious trained you to be his apprentice?”
Maul chuckled darkly and said, “Oh yes. I received a great deal of training on Mustafar!”
Broken fingers. Burnt skin. Empty stomach. Bloody bandages. So much training.
She leveled a hard stare at the sunrise on the horizon and thought for a moment before asking, “Do you think the Force is telling us that’s where we’ll find Anakin? Or maybe the Force is showing me the planet through his eyes?”
Maul tried to answer her questions but his throat was full of black, oily smoke. He could barely breathe, barely see. He was running, running, running, but there was no way out. There was no safe haven. The entire planet was his fortress, his dungeon, his cell. His bare feet burned and his eyes filled with tears and his broken fingers ached and—
And suddenly Tano’s hand was on his shoulder again and the slight pressure of it brought him back to the present moment. Her eyes were bluer and brighter and clearer than the sky behind her and her voice was gentle yet firm as she said, “We don’t have to go to Mustafar. If you don’t want to, we won’t.”
Maul blinked and another aspect of his nightmare began to surface. A glimmer of something hopeful. But it shimmered and then burst like a bubble before he could remember it fully. He steeled himself. Swallowed and nodded. Noticed her gaze dip slightly to his throat as he did so and wondered what that could possibly mean.
“I am not afraid of that place,” he said defiantly. “I will go to Mustafar, if that is where the Force leads me.”
“I wish I knew for sure,” Tano said with a tight smile. She placed her hand back in her lap and, may the gods curse him, but he hated the absence of it. “Honestly, I was worried at first that you were causing my nightmares. This is the longest I’ve spent near a follower of the Dark Side. But now I wonder if I’m, I don’t know, seeing your memories of growing up there.”
The thought absolutely chilled him to the core but he answered cooly, “My mental fortitude is not so weak that you can simply waltz into my mind, Lady Tano. As much as you may wish to know my most private thoughts, I have practiced guarding myself against such intrusions longer than you have been alive.”
“Oh right,” she smirked. “In all the excitement, I forgot you’re super old.” She rose to her feet, stretching upwards with another yawn.
“You know, a powerful Force user such as myself, could live to be 200,” Maul countered, leaning back so he could relieve some of the pressure on his mid section. “From that vantage point, I am truly only in the beginning stages of my life.”
“Sure, sure, whatever you say,” Tano laughed, brushing sand from her jumpsuit.
Maul prepared to argue his point further, although he wasn’t entirely sure why he was so desperate for her to see him as young and capable. Pride, he supposed. Unfortunately, as he straightened out his legs, the gears ground together and made a horrendous squeal.
“Well, that doesn’t sound good,” Tano commented.
“An astute observation!” Maul said with a growl to cover his embarrassment. He heaved himself into a standing position and the woman actually rushed to catch him as the legs malfunctioned again and he stumbled. Humiliation upon humiliation. “Blast these legs and blast this planet!” Maul snarled. “Sidious have them!”
She hummed good-naturedly and shifted his body so that his arm was draped over her shoulders. Her other hand gripped him by the waist. He tested placing weight on the knee joint. He heard her swallow. She was so close, he could smell her. He tried not to breathe as he hissed, “I do not want your pity.”
“This isn’t pity,” Tano said with a ‘tsk’. “You’re my friend and I want to help you.”
“Friend??” Maul repeated, pronouncing the word as though this were his first time putting his tongue around it. “Pain is my only friend.”
"Sand in the joint mechanisms?” she continued, undeterred.
“Yes, and there is no relief from it.”
“Maybe we can find you a mechanic in Mos Eisley.”
“A mechanic?” he spluttered, as his ankles, knees, and hips popped and crunched. “I am not a THING, Lady Tano!”
“I know you’re not a thing,” she grumbled. “But your bottom half requires attention and—er—that didn’t come out right.”
Maul groaned a string of Dathomirian curses Savage had taught him.
Tano adjusted her grip around his midsection and nodded towards their stolen vehicle. “I’m going to get you on the swoop,” she panted. “And then we’ll go to Mos Eisley and figure out what you need.”
“What I need is to leave this planet of sand as soon as possible!”
“Agreed!” Tano said. “Don’t worry, I’m sick of it, too. No more sand for us!” She suddenly tilted her head at a strange angle, nearly poking out his eye with a montral.
“Watch where you point those—” Maul growled before the woman slammed her body into his with a grunt, throwing them both down into the hateful sand once more. Maul began bellowing curses in a language she would know.
“Shut up,” she hissed, her breath in his ear and her body close to his and her soft palm covering his mouth. Maul’s mind went blank for a moment. Before he could regain his composure, her hand was gone and she was crawling on her belly to the edge of a dune. He joined her and watched a large vessel rush over the landscape, smaller ships darting about it like scavengers. Sunlight reflected harshly off the slanted metal sides of the sail barge as it pulled up alongside the sarlacc pit that had nearly claimed him. The small ships drew even closer to the pit and the beast inside screamed with hunger. Maul shielded his eyes as panels opened along the sides of the sail barge so the crew and passengers could get a better view of the proceedings. Music and laughter met his ears. And there was Jabba the Hutt himself, commanding a dozen prisoners to be prodded onto gangplanks above the hole in the earth.
“No!” Lady Tano shouted. He grabbed her shoulders as she tried to stand and wrestled her down to his side again.
“Be still,” he whispered, fanning the invisible shroud of the Dark Side over them both for protection. Her body tensed. He was not sure if it was because she felt him hiding them or because he had somehow ended up with a lek draped over his shoulders. He ignored the blue end of it dancing in his periphery.
They watched prisoner after prisoner be shunted into the open maw of the sarlacc. Jabba and his party laughed and the music played, although neither sound from the sail barge could drown out the screams of the prisoners or the beast as it demanded more sacrifices. He realized Lady Tano was clutching his arm to her chest and digging all ten fingers almost painfully into his bicep. He glanced at her but her attention was focused wholly on the terrible scene. Sweat dripped down the gentle slope of her forehead. She was grinding her molars together, her lips pulling back to reveal snarling canines. Her blue eyes blazed with anger and hatred directed at the cruelty before them. Maul’s hearts tripped about his rib cage as he gazed at her. He was distantly aware of the sounds of the party becoming muffled as the panels of the sail barge slid closed. He heard the whoosh of the ships as they fled the scene. The sarlacc eventually went silent, focusing instead on the next thousand some years of digesting.
And only then did the woman turn that furious look on him and he felt something sickening twist about where his stomach ought to have been. Um, yes, yes, she was far too close. Their faces were side by side, their noses nearly touching. He rolled onto his back to try and create some distance but she still had his arm in a death grip. She rolled with him, resulting in Maul laying on his back in the sand with a seething Togruta on top of him, her arms and legs and headtails barring him in on all sides.
Maul lay very still and forced his mind to go very, very blank.
“Why did you stop me?” she demanded, seemingly unbothered by their new position. “I could have saved them!”
“Y-you do not have to save everyone, Lady Tano,” he said, his voice huskier than he intended.
“No, but I should at least try,” she answered. She seemed to be studying his eyes and mouth and tattoos. Maul swallowed and again her eyes followed the bobbing movement of his throat. He was certain she was going to bite him. Which… uh… was an interesting thought. She suddenly seemed to realize she was attempting a philosophical conversation while pinning a man to the ground. She sat back on her heels, stood, and walked away in a fluid motion. Maul drew a deep breath in through his nose and released a ragged sigh from his mouth. Her scent lingered around him, dusky sweat and campfire smoke and the honey sweetness of a desert flower. If he closed his eyes, he could picture her above him, feel her place those canine teeth into the pounding pulse points on his neck and bite down so, so hard until he cried out—
“I’m not afraid of that slug,” she was saying. He opened his eyes. She was sitting at the front of the bike, her headtails concealed by her cloak and hood and dark goggles covering her eyes. She cast her head back and forth as though scanning for further threats before flexing her hand in the air between them. White hot fingers of Light Side Force energy wove around his body, lifting him gently into the air and arranging his uncooperative body on the seat behind her. He pulled up his hood to protect his sensitive vision from the bright suns and his pride from any further mortification. “Besides,” she continued, “You and I could have taken out his entire goon squad. No contest.”
“As much as I appreciate your confidence in our abilities, Lady Tano,” Maul muttered, “you seem to have forgotten that I currently can barely walk, let alone fight. How can you be so sure of our victory when my body barely functions?”
Tano twisted in her seat to flash him a sharp smile. “I’ve seen you shred an entire Star Destroyer with a flick of your wrist, Maul. Your legs aren’t a disadvantage. They just make things interesting.”
Oh.
He had hoped to impress her with the level of chaos he could wreck on that ship but this was the first she had mentioned it since the Order 66 attack. His insides, or what was left of them, squirmed again. He allowed himself a satisfied smile.
They set off to Mos Eisley. It was much like every other journey thus far on this planet. The flat empty desert. The merciless suns. The rocks and mesas. But he had her scent now and it filled his lungs with every breath. Her cloak blew to the side. He glanced down to where her legs curved around the swoop, to the slice he had made in her jumpsuit. The fabric peeled back like a rind, revealing the sweet orange fruit of her thigh.
The scenery was the same, but things between them were definitely different. Maul decided that being Ahsoka Tano’s friend might be a more frightening experience than being her enemy.
✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧
“What can we expect?” she asked.
Maul shrugged. “Scum. Villainy. An even less savory clientele than Anchorhead, according to our dear Owen Lars. Safe to assume everyone we meet will want to collect on a bounty.”
“Terrific,” she sighed. “Ok, we keep a low profile. Head straight to the port, board the first ship we see, and get the hell off Tatooine.”
The brave words hid the anxiety she felt.
Ahsoka had parked at a rocky outcropping just outside the city limits. She helped Maul off the swoop without the Force this time. While he kept watch, she sorted out the useful items from their supplies, placing the macrobinoculars, two bottles of alcohol, the packs of death sticks (for bartering, she reasoned), the Tatooine credits, and the medical kit in her bag. The rest of the alcohol she left in the carriage of Ralph’s bike, which was abandoned to its fate of being picked apart by raiders. Maul denied the assistance of a mechanic or the respite of a tavern, choosing instead to deal with his technological difficulties once off-world. After a brief session of bickering, she conceded. Ahsoka ate the final nutrition bar and split the last water pouch with Maul before slinging the man’s arm over her shoulder and trudging towards Mos Eisley. The suns, now high overhead, beat down upon them. Maul’s pace was slow but she made no comment on it. She had a headache. Her whole body was slick with sweat and covered in a grimy layer of smoke and sand. Everything was sticking in uncomfortable places. She thought of how Maul had implied she smelled bad back in the cave and could only assume she was absolutely rank by this point. But if she stank, then he definitely did. Unfortunately, since she was currently bumping up against said stinky, sweaty man, this was a small comfort.
Mos Eisley made Anchorhead look like a refueling station.
The city was an interlocking puzzle of imposing towers, domes, blocks, stairways, and arches, each one the same dusty tan of the desert sand. The streets were wide enough for six lanes of speeders and full of every species imaginable. But far less humans than Anchorhead, Ahsoka noted. Her montrals buzzed with the hubbub of city life. There was a great deal of friction here. A motley crew of unsavory characters, shoulder-to-shoulder, rubbing against one another every day, all day long created an undercurrent of danger and unease. Ahsoka realized she had grown used to only contending with Maul’s energy. Mos Eisley reminded her in a way of Coruscant. Loud, bright, textured, and slightly overwhelming. The Force nipped at her ankles, making her notice every scheming malcontent, lurking ne’er do well, and suffering bystander. And always the slave girls. Twi’leks in revealing garments with metal shackles around their ankles and wrists flitted around every corner, like colorful birds on display in a cage. Ahsoka had half a mind to whip out her light sabers and begin hacking and slashing. But then who would save Anakin? Who would check in on the twins? Maul was right, in a way. She couldn’t save everyone. Especially not if she prioritized the lives of the Skywalker family. She had been trying to push aside the deaths she had witnessed at the sarlacc pit that morning but the entire scene had left her weary and the pressure of it all sat heavy on her heart.
Much like Maul, she now just wanted to get off this horrible planet.
It took hours, but she and Maul managed to pass through the city unseen and unbothered. The spaceport was not hard to find as it was at the center of the city and all roads lead to the massive sandy field. Much like the rest of Mos Eisley, the infrastructure was imposing and the traffic dense. Ships of all sizes moved in and out of the port, either straight into the air or down a runway. It was a wonder there weren’t constant accidents. Mechanics, vendors, dock workers, merchants, mercenaries, prostitutes, pickpockets, and more crisscrossed the arena, advertising their services and hawking their wares. She was glad they would not be staying the night here in Mos Eisley. Sundown would most certainly bring to surface an even more unsavory and desperate population.
She propped Maul against a shaded archway and took a few minutes to catch her breath. “Right,” Ahsoka whispered, scanning their options. “What do we think?”
Maul began speaking, explaining how their best bet was to board a cargo vessel, hide out in the hull. Ahsoka didn’t hear him. Something in the crowd had caught her attention. The sun glinted off a shape that was smooth and white as bleached bone. Her heart leapt into her throat. Familiar helmets bobbed into view. Hope blossomed in her chest as she watched them march along, managing the crowd and demanding order. The Clone Troopers were here! Her friends! They were saved! She began to raise her hand into the air to flag them down. She took a single step out into the sunlight before realization dawned and reality crashed back down around her. The Clone Troopers were here!
“Fuck!” Ahsoka hissed, throwing herself back into the shadows. She grabbed Maul by both shoulders and dragged him around the corner. Her heart was racing and her fingers shook as she clenched them around his robes and said, “Clones!”
Maul’s look of shock matched her own. “How many?”
“At least four, maybe more.”
His eyelids fluttered shut. She felt the Force cast out around them like webbing.
“Many more,” Maul muttered. “They are checking papers.”
Ahsoka’s mind raced through escape routes and scenarios. Could they sneak aboard a ship without being stopped? Could she rescue these soldiers the same way she did Rex?
Maul leveled a calculating glare at her and added, “They are searching for Jedi.”
Her head was pounding. She had made it clear to Maul last night that she did not want to lose him to a sarlacc. And he had stopped her from leaping into the fray with Jabba’s goon squad. But she wasn’t so sure if he felt the same about turning her over to his former Master’s new army. He could easily rid himself of an annoying rogue Jedi now without even revealing himself to Sidious. She realized he might be thinking the same of her. It would be nice if this alliance of theirs wasn’t being tested and stretched every minute of every day.
“They are coming this way,” Maul whispered.
Ahsoka decided to kick his malfunctioning legs out from under him and make a break for it.
She gasped as he slammed both hands into the wall, one on either side of her montrals, and pressed his body against hers. A familiar chill descended and she realized he was hiding them again, like he had done earlier that day. The sound of marching boots echoed off the buildings. A familiar voice demanded identification. She had grown up surrounded by hundreds, thousands of Clones. They were her friends, her brothers, her comrades. Their shared voice had been warm and kindly but now, under Sidious, it had turned cold and robotic. She was going to be sick. Ahsoka clawed her hands into Maul’s dark robes and screwed her eyes shut. Maul drew in a deep breath and held it. Eventually, the boots marched on. The once beloved voice commanded, “Move along, move along.”
Maul released the breath he was holding and Ahsoka raised her face from where it was burrowed into his shoulder. She scanned the area but the Clones were gone. Maul’s hands slowly slid away from the wall and came to rest at his sides. The coolness of the Dark Side slipped from her shoulders. She should probably say thank you or something. She licked her lips but her mouth was completely dry. Ahsoka could feel his hearts beating through his tunic. Wow, he must have been as nervous as she was. She released the fabric. Maul glanced briefly at her mouth before taking a dignified step backwards and muttering, “I suggest we move from this spot.”
He began to stalk off down an alleyway but his legs failed and he staggered against a wall. She hurried to his side once more to support his weight. Maul growled but did not protest as, together, they doubled back towards the port.
“I can’t believe the Clones are here already,” Ahsoka grumbled as they hobbled along. “You made it sound like Sidious would take his sweet time getting to Tatooine.”
“I do not know the man’s mind,” Maul argued. “In fact, I strive to create distance between us.”
He stumbled and Ahsoka tripped on the faulty leg. She scrubbed a dirty, sweaty forearm over her dirty, sweaty face and tried to steady her breathing. This was absurd. How were they supposed to sneak around and stow away when one of them could barely walk and the other was on the verge of a panic attack?
Maul had leaned his traitorous body against the doorway of a shop. The look on his face told her he was about a minute away from ripping his legs out of their sockets.
“Fuck,” she said again, because what else was there to say at this point. She cast her eyes heavenward and saw the blinking neon sign. As the Force would have it, they were standing in front of a mechanic’s shop. She could tell by the lights and the lock on the door that the shop was closed. She also assumed that Maul would be reluctant to enter and actually accept assistance. But hopefully he would be impressed with a little breaking and entering. Ahsoka looked both ways down the alley before quickly sliding the Force through the lock. She located the shop owner’s pride and tugged it to the side until the lock clicked and the door swooshed open. She jerked her chin in the direction of the shop and Maul followed her inside.
“Hello,” she called softly. “The door was open so we just walked in.”
There was no answer. The bay smelled of fuel and grease and death stick smoke. The overhead lights were low and flickering but Ahsoka didn’t dare adjust them. The Force told her there were lifeforms nearby who cared deeply about this business but she didn’t feel like they were in any immediate danger. She closed the door behind them with a click.
“Let’s be quick. There has to be something in here that can, you know, blow the sand out of you,” Ahsoka said, flapping her hands as if she were shooing bugs.
“I would rather contend with this issue at our next destination,” Maul grumbled as he staggered through the mechanic’s bay.
“No, I need you operational,” Ahsoka said. She felt him gathering retorts and accusations so she turned around to face him and explained, “I don’t trust myself right now. The Clones threw me and I—I need to know I can depend on you if I can’t keep it together.”
Maul looked surprised by this admission but, after a moment, he recovered and gave her a curt nod.
“We need an air compressor with a detailing nozzle,” she continued, inspecting a wall of gadgets. “Or a vac with a cleaner hose attachment.”
“Or a shower,” Maul suggested.
Ahsoka looked up to see there was a full refresher in the corner of the bay.
“Oh, thank the Force,” she groaned, mentally canceling all escape plans in favor of standing under a torrent of hot water for the next couple of hours. “I can’t believe they have the moisture to spare!”
“They do not,” Maul explained. “The showers on most desert planets use ultrasonic vibrations to remove dirt and sand from your body.”
Her longing for steamy lather was replaced by the awful vision of tornado winds battering her naked body. “They… they shake you clean? How is that relaxing?”
“It will do,” Maul said. He raised an arm and gestured for her. “Help me over there.”
Ahsoka grunted as she ducked under Maul’s outstretched arm. They shuffled around a work bench and towards the refresher. Ahsoka tried to think of the best way to ask if he needed her help in the shower without sounding like she, er, wanted to shower with him. But thankfully Maul slammed the door in her face without another word.
“Right,” Ahsoka said to herself. She wondered how long it would take for him to shake all the sand out of his bottom half. At least she didn’t have to worry about him using up all the hot water. Ultrasonic vibrations probably didn’t run out. She looked around the mechanic shop and listened for the tell-tale clacks of shiny, white marching boots. Instead, she heard the whir and whish of the refresher shower powering up. Maul must be managing fine. He was probably standing in the middle of the shower, naked and vibrating.
Um.
Maybe there were supplies here that they would need on their journey. Would a hammer help them on Mustafar? Water pouches or food would be more useful. Maybe the shop owner had some sort of multi-tool they wouldn’t miss too terribly. Ahsoka began carefully digging through the drawers in the workbench, searching for something to take her mind off Maul and their current situation. Her thoughts wandered back to Trace on Coruscant. Spending time with the human mechanic had been the last normal thing she’d done before her world imploded. She wondered how the girl was doing now that the Republic had fallen. Hopefully, the Martez sisters were safe.
There was nothing noteworthy in the workbench so Ahsoka crept deeper into the bay. There were several swoops on lifts in various states of repair or disassembly. This side of the shop was in disarray, as though whoever had been working had left quickly. Ahsoka pursed her lips and wished Maul would hurry. The lights buzzed and flickered. There was a larger vessel at the back of the shop. It was some sort of shuttle, although Ahsoka could barely tell the make or model since it had been so thoroughly taken to pieces. But… there was something oddly familiar about it. Ahsoka frowned and the Force prodded her with memories of fleeing Polis Massa and the eerie sight of Maul’s glowing yellow eyes staring out at her from underneath a cot.
“Hey!” Ahsoka shouted into the empty mechanic shop.
“Hey!” a voice shouted back.
Ahsoka spun around to see a short human woman standing in a doorway. The woman flipped a switch and the harsh overhead lights groaned to life. Ahsoka squinted at this new adversary. The woman had wary eyes and a mass of curly brown hair. She was wearing a rumpled maroon jumpsuit, smoking a death stick, and brandishing a wrench.
“Hi,” said Ahsoka, holding up her hands to show she came in peace.
“What the fuck are you doing in my shop?” the woman snapped.
“What are you doing with my ship?” Ahsoka said, gesturing to the disfigured shuttle.
“Your ship?” the woman snarled, taking a few steps forward. She took a drag from the death stick and then pointed it at the vessel. “That is my ship. I bought it fair and square off some Jawas a few days ago.”
“Those Jawas stole the ship from me!”
“Welcome to the free market economy,” the woman chuckled. “So what, you broke in here and want to steal it back?”
“No, I—“
“Because it's in about a thousand pieces right now and half of it I’ve sold off already.”
“Yeah, I noticed but—“
“Who the hell is in my shower?”
The woman marched towards the refresher but Ahsoka scrambled to block her path. She had to think fast. This would all go downhill if Maul got involved.
“I’m really sorry for scaring you,” Ahsoka tried. “My friend and I have been walking through the desert for days trying to find a spaceport. We were robbed by those freaky little Jawas and—“
“Whoa, whoa! Don’t insult the Jawas. I happen to have one upstairs right now and things were going pretty well until you barged in.”
“Oh. You-you’re dating a Jawa?”
“I mean, it’s nothing serious but she and I fool around,” the woman said with a shrug. “What’s it to you?”
Ahsoka opened her mouth and closed it again and then said, “Nothing, I think that’s great. I support it, even. Actually, I-I lied. My friend and I were just looking for some place to-to hook up. Um. And he wanted to get a shower quick and-and then I was going to shower and then we were going to, uh, do it. And then leave.”
The woman scrunched up her face and said, “Kriff, kid. Are you high?”
Ugh this wasn’t going well at all.
“Take off your hood,” the woman demanded. “Who the fuck are you? Did someone from Hangar 5x5 put you up to this?”
Ahsoka sighed and pulled her hood from her head. The woman frowned as she took in the exotic montrals, patterned lekku, and white markings on copper skin.
“I’m not an enemy,” Ahsoka explained slowly, urging the Force to lend a soft charm to her words. “My friend and I are hiding. We aren’t going to stay long or take any of your stuff. My friend is a-a cyborg and the sand was clogging his gears. We really just needed showers and then we were going to skip town. I swear.”
The woman took a long drag from her death stick before tossing it to the floor and grinding it out with the toe of her boot. She blew smoke from her nose and then said, “You look familiar but I can’t place it.”
Well, that wasn’t good. Ahsoka licked her lips. She brought her hand up between them and waved her fingers through the strands of Force as she demanded, “You’ve never seen me before.”
The woman blinked and admitted, “I’ve never seen you before.”
“You’ll let us stay the night so long as we’re gone in the morning.”
“Look, you can stay tonight but you better be gone in the morning, ok?”
“Yes, thank you,” Ahsoka said, her shoulders sagging. “That’s very kind of you.”
The woman gave her a skeptical look before shaking her head and walking back towards the door she had emerged from. Ahsoka assumed it lead to a second floor apartment and the loving embrace of a Jawa. Ahsoka let out a long, beleaguered exhale. Ahsoka preferred to not use mind tricks if she could help it but her energy was low and this day kept getting more complicated. Her stomach growled.
How could she possibly look familiar to this human? She hadn’t seen a single Togruta since landing on Tatooine. There was no reason for the woman to recognize her unless… unless there were wanted posters somewhere or holovids warning against Jedi who had escaped Sidious’ purge. Shit. If the mechanic recognized her, then others were bound to do the same. What if neighbors had spread rumors about seeing a strange ship land on the Lars’ property in the middle of the night, it’s departure coinciding with the arrival of two new mouths to feed. Would reports about mysterious infants delivered by a wanted woman get back to Anakin?
Oh Force, she was going to have to tell Darth Maul that she was changing her mind about leaving Tatooine.
Ahsoka rapped her knuckles against the refresher door. She thought of the Clones knocking on the door of Owen Lars’ homestead. Would he greet them with a rifle shot to the gut? The ultrasonic vibrations or whatever going on inside still rattled her montrals. She called his name as loudly as she dared, worried the woman with the wrench would return. There was no answer.
Seriously, how long did he need in the shower?
“Maul!” she hissed, beating her palm against the refresher door. “Maul, get out of there!” She eventually succumbed to frustration and shoved at the door with both hands. It whooshed open and she stumbled into the cramped refresher with a yelp. The door closed behind her.
The wind sounds stopped almost immediately as Maul, who clearly thought he was under attack, threw open the translucent shower door and barged into the refresher. He slid to a stop on the tiled floor when he saw her. His vicious features softened slightly as rage was replaced with confusion. Ahsoka took in his heaving red and black chest, his hands opening and closing as they anticipated a fight, and his—
“AUGH!” Ahsoka shrieked, quickly covering her eyes with her hands. “Sorry! Sorry!”
“Tano—”
“You were just taking so long and—”
“Ahsoka,” Maul said with a sigh. His rough fingers encircled her wrists and slowly pulled her hands away from her face. “This is unnecessary. Open your eyes. There is nothing to see.”
Ahsoka cracked one eye open. Maul stared at her, his expression unreadable. He released her hands and took a step back. The motion was fluid and there was no longer a hitch in his step. So they had that going for them, at least. Ahsoka blinked both her eyes open. She slowly dragged her gaze from his face down his muscular neck and chest and abdomen. Strange bands encircled his waist. She assumed they managed the connection between flesh and machine. The legs were fitted into a complicated mechanical midsection via ball and socket joints. The build was truly remarkable, a sleek silver durasteel piece of craftsmanship. She wanted to ask so many questions about how it all worked and what it felt like and how they perfected the neurological connection so that he moved like liquid while fighting.
Instead, she just stared at his robotic body, feeling a mix of impressed and dumbfounded and embarrassed and, worst of all, profoundly turned on.
“There is nothing to see,” he repeated in a clipped tone. Matter-of-fact. Humiliated. Resigned.
Ahsoka gave a small nervous laugh. Maul appeared to steel himself for a retort. Chin in the air, hands balled into fists. But she simply smiled and said, “I disagree.”
He looked genuinely stunned by this admission.
Regrettably, the next thing out of her mouth was, “There’s a woman upstairs making out with a Jawa.”
“Oh,” said Maul.
“I think she owns this shop. The Jawas sold my shuttle to her and she completely dismantled the thing. But I suggested she leave us alone and that we’d be gone in the morning.”
Maul blinked several times before furrowing his brow and repeating, “The morning? We agreed to leave Tatooine tonight.”
“I know,” Ahsoka mumbled, looking down at the floor. “I can’t—I can’t leave.”
She glanced up at him and watched as realization dawned on his face and his expression soured. He let his head fall back and groaned, “Damn it, woman! You want to stay on Tatooine??”
“I didn’t expect the Clones to be here,” Ahsoka said, gesturing towards the outside world. “I can’t leave Luke and Leia unguarded.”
“That is why the plan was to leave as quickly as possible!”
“Clones change things.”
“They are searching for established Jedi known by Sidious and Vader,” Maul argued. “They are not searching for infants.”
“You don’t know that,” Ahsoka said, hating that they were having this argument next to a toilet. “We need to admit that we’ve been guessing and following hunches with everything. What if we’re wrong?” Ahsoka squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. She needed water. The pounding in her head matched the haunting sound of marching Clone boots.
“And what of Vader’s redemption?” Maul asked, nostrils flaring. “Sidious’ defeat? You would sacrifice both?"
She opened her eyes and said, “I have to.”
“Then we are back where we started,” Maul said with a harsh sigh and shake of his head. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at the tiled floor.
Ahsoka took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry. I know this is frustrating. I keep changing our course of action because the future is a moving target. And—and I know that a sand planet isn’t the best for you.” Maul’s golden eyes snapped to hers. “So I don’t expect you to stay here with me. I understand—”
“But would you ask it?”
“What?”
Maul glanced at the floor and took a tentative step closer to her. He looked up at her again with a face keen and craving. Ahsoka inhaled sharply, the emptiness she had felt a moment before quickly replaced by the feeling of heat building in her low belly. Her hands itched to touch him. She thought of his hearts racing beneath her palms in the alleyway and the warmth of his body against hers at night in the cave and his black tongue licking sticky blood from his swollen lips.
“Would you ask me to stay?” Maul whispered, “Here. With you.”
Ahsoka thought of his earnest face glowing in the campfire light, grateful she had saved his life.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I would.”
Maul nodded, cleared his throat, and said, “I shall take that under consideration.”
He quickly gathered his clothing, which Ahsoka just now noticed was neatly folded on a bench next to the shower, and hurried passed her. The door slid open and closed.
“Oh. Ok,” she said out loud to the empty room. She caught her reflection in the refresher’s mirror. Force, she looked awful. Bags under her eyes. An indigo bruise on her jaw. Dark dirt smears across her face. Various cuts and scrapes on every bit of exposed flesh. She groaned as loudly as she dared and began to peel off the dirty jumpsuit. What the hell was she thinking??
Hopefully, the ultrasonic vibrations in this thing were ice cold.
✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✦ ✧
What the hell was he thinking??
Maul stood outside the refresher, shaken to his core. He threw on layer after layer of ripped and stained black material but still felt naked and exposed. The last thing he expected, or wanted, was for her to see him like that, all lifeless machinery from the navel down. He must appear one bad day away from becoming another wheezing, shambling Grievous-like corpse. He ran a hand over his face and tried to steady his breath. She had said he was a person, a person in her life, Maul reminded himself. She does not see you as a science project to be dissected on a slab or a droid to be taken apart and tinkered with in a shop.
He recalled the intensity of her stare as her eyes scanned him from boot to brow and back again in a way that made his remaining skin prickle. Her signature was all heat and hunger, turning the small refresher into an blazing oven. He could make no sense of it. Perhaps, there was more power in the Light Side than he had been lead to believe. He had told her the Light Side had nothing to offer and she affirmed that her kind did not deal in seduction. But if he had spent another minute in that tiny room with her, he would have happily burned alive in the fires of her affection.
“Fuck me,” Maul groaned aloud. He was now in danger of reciting poetry. All because one woman saw his miserable, wretched form laid bare and did not recoil in disgust.
He thought of the light touch of her hand. On his hand, his arm, his chest. How hands on his body before had meant nothing but pain and how he now greatly desired what once repulsed and terrified him.
She had asked him to stay. She wanted him to stay.
He was not willing to recite bad poetry but he was willing to do something equally stupid.
Lady Tano was still occupied within the refresher. He crept through a back door and into a dark adjoining alley. He took out his data pad.
“Lord Maul?!” the Pyke gasped as the creature’s hologram flickered to life on the cracked screen. “We did not expect you to make contact so soon. You told us you were going into hiding. You told us—”
“Forget what I told you,” Maul snarled. “There is a new plan. Alert the Black Sun. The Shadow Collective is regrouping on Tatooine.”
“Tatooine? Have you already informed the Hutts, my lord?”
“Not yet but soon enough.”
“And Death Watch?”
“Are dead.”
“Very good, my lord. The Pyke Syndicate has wished to begin spice mining on Tatooine for many—”
“That is all.”
“Of course,” the Pyke said with a short bow.
Maul switched off the data pad and blew out a breath. He would explain this to Lady Tano in the morning. She would be in more agreeable after her shower and—and perhaps a large meal. Yes, he would go steal more food for her. Maul stalked from the alleyway in search of a night market. Tatooine was already covered in gangsters and criminals, he reasoned. An increase in underworld activity that swore loyalty to him could only improve their situation. He was doing this to keep her safe. She would understand. Or she would be so preoccupied with worrying about Vader and his children that she would never even notice if he took an occasional meeting. He would simply tell the Pykes and Black Sun to give the former Jedi and the Lars homestead a wide berth. They could carry out their goals in tandem. She had suggested as much back in the cave. Although in that scenario, they were far from each other. But perhaps… perhaps… she would welcome this assistance. After all, she had asked him to stay!
A sudden vision of a possible future entered his mind. Himself on a throne, as usual, at the head of his vast criminal enterprise, rival in size and might to Sidious’ new empire. And standing beside him with her hand on his shoulder, the regal and fearsome Lady Tano. His most trusted and powerful warrior. She would be grateful, amazed by all he had done for her. She would gaze at him with pride and awe. She would blush at his power as her dark lips parted and—
Lost in the heady allure of his daydream, Maul did not sense the approaching figures or their violent intentions. The trio raised thick wooden staffs overhead and brought the clubbed ends down on his head. Maul crashed to the ground. Blood oozed down his face and into his eyes from a wound in his skull. He roared and flung one Tusken across the street with the Force but another struck him across the face with their gaderffii stick. Maul’s data pad fell from his cloak and shattered. Maul squinted at his assailant as they raised the club again. The world went black.