Chapter Text
Tars Gi-Ful never fooled himself into thinking he was a particularly good man. He took in kids from the streets, gave them warm beds and warmer meals, and kept them out of trouble—mostly. But this Galaxy was a harsh one, and the Empire hadn’t helped any. If more kids came up ready to fight tooth and nail for their lives, that wasn’t his fault. If he took those kids in more often and made them stronger, gave them better weapons and faster fists, well… at least they weren’t starving.
Taking Khara in had been one of the most rewarding experiences of his life. Few came in as broken down and frightened as she had been. To watch her learn to trust again, learn to fight for the good of others, choose her own path? That was as close to being a parent as he wanted to be. He loved her like one of his own. It had meant losing four of his other children, some of his best and brightest and kindest. It had meant losing Khara for a time.
But this man… this violent, angry Zabrak had brought her back somehow.
He kept his silence as he watched them, satisfied that he hadn’t been noticed for the time being. He was working late, as usual. Coming down to the kitchens for a cup of caf, he’d expected everything to be shut off. Instead, when the lights shone under the door, he’d assumed one of the little ones was sneaking a snack again. He’d started to barge in when he heard Khara’s laughter, the loud, snorting kind that meant she was trying not to laugh. He pushed the door open as carefully as he could, peeking through the crack.
She was sitting on the counter, a wide, goofy grin on her face as the Zabrak in question stood between her knees and glared up at her. There was a piece of meiloorun stuck to one of his horns.
“Oops.” She mumbled, looking anything but contrite.
“Kestrel.” He growled.
She giggled, covering her mouth. Tars wasn’t sure he’d ever heard her laugh like that. “I dropped it! Seriously!”
“Get it off.”
“You get it!” She cackled, rocking back. Sighing, Maul picked the piece of fruit off his horn and popped it in his mouth. Despite his glare, there was the barest quirk of his lips as he looked up at her. Tars had never seen him smile. He’d been sure the crime lord didn’t smile. But there he was, a definite twinkle in his glowing eyes while Khara took up another piece of cubed fruit.
“As I was saying!” She got her laughter under control. “I was thinking about taking that job Tars mentioned. Come with me. Let’s go to Spira for a few days, get away, just the two of us.”
“To eavesdrop on a worthless bounty hunter?”
“No, dummy, to sleep in and eat good food and go to nice beaches. You can take your shirt off and I can watch.”
He frowned. “Why would we do that?”
She tapped his nose, smiling when he huffed and wrinkled it. “Because you’re beautiful and I wanna see you sunbathing. Do you tan?”
“Not noticeably.”
He did, apparently, blush. Tars couldn’t believe it. He almost wished he didn’t value his life so much, if only so he could remember to tease the infamous crime lord, ex-Sith, and famously short-tempered Zabrak about burying his face in Khara’s shoulder while his cheeks turned the faintest shade of purple. Maul wrapped his arms around her waist and sank into her, letting her support his weight.
“Very well.” He mumbled into her shoulder.
She gasped, her eyes lighting up. “We can go?”
“Mhm.”
“We can sleep in?”
“Mm.”
“Will you make me breakfast?”
He pinched her under her ribs. She dissolved into laughter, trying to wriggle away from his wandering hands. Tars turned away and wandered back to his office, feeling a little bad for spying on such a private moment. Still, the scene stuck with him, Khara laughing while her very dangerous, very short-tempered lover pressed a shy smile into her shoulder.
She was learning to trust again, he thought to himself. Learning to love again. He might trust Maul as far as he could throw him, which was to say not at all, but at least he seemed committed to doing right by Khara. And if he ever hurt her, Tars would hire every bounty hunter this side of the Outer Rim to hunt him down. Stars knew Khara had gone too soft to do it herself. He smiled to himself.
He shouldn’t be proud of her for going a little soft. But he was. She deserved it.