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It was the morning before the Harvest Festival opened, and City Hall was more chaotic than it had ever been. By now, all of the departments had been roped in to support the event in some way or another, but everything centered around Parks. People ran in and out of the office all morning. Boxes of volunteer t-shirts, event flyers, and miscellaneous equipment was piled into any spare corner. Jyn hadn’t slept in 30 hours, and downed another cup of coffee alongside Cassian, who had been with her for the past 28. They ran through the list of everything left to do.
“What about the port-a-potties for the section along Ryloth Avenue?” Jyn asked.
“Arriving at 3:30,” Cassian replied. “The delivery was late but they’re on their way. What about the hydration stations?”
“Argued with the rental company for an hour on the phone, but they finally changed out the plastic water cups for the biodegradable ones. What’s the status with Thi Sen, he’s messaging me that his team needs help with their setup?”
“There was an issue on the map, the first set up crew put them in a back corner, but because we want the Talz traditional agriculture tent to be front and center, we got some of Kes’ guys to move their gear, they’re now the first exhibit at the main entrance. Have you talked to the City Council today?”
“Councilwoman Mothma and Councilman Ackbar both confirmed they’ll be at the opening ceremonies. Councilman Draven said he isn’t coming, but he’s never liked me anyway, so I’m not surprised.”
Cassian looked surprised. “Why? I thought Draven was nice enough, the couple of times I’ve met him.”
Jyn snorted. “Nice? You’ve got to be the only person to ever describe Draven as ‘nice.’”
“Good morning,” Kay said primly when he walked into the office, giving Jyn and Cassian’s disheveled appearances a discerning look. “I’m guessing you two have decided to boycott sleep?”
“Of course I couldn’t sleep,” Jyn yawned, “Too busy with your mother last night.”
“Your joke doesn’t make any sense, my mother lives two time zones from here.”
“Keep talking before I’m done with my coffee, and you’ll wish you were two time zones from here,” she grumbled.
Cassian smiled into his coffee cup, where neither Jyn nor Kay could see. But his phone at that moment started to ring, so Cassian put down his coffee to check it. He pulled the phone from his pocket, saw the name, and quickly denied the call.
“You need to get that?” Jyn asked.
“No, just a scammer,” Cassian said. And Jyn nodded, because honestly she didn’t care, they had bigger things to focus on that day.
Except Cassian didn’t deny the call quick enough for Kay to not catch the name “Luthen – Boss” light up the screen. Kay narrowed his eyes at his friend, but before he could say anything, Leia walked into the office.
“Good, everyone’s here!” Leia clapped, and everyone gathered around her. “Before today gets any more chaotic, and the Festival opens tomorrow, I just wanted to tell you all that I appreciate all of the hard work each one of you has put in. Now, I was able to get a huge surprise for the Festival, but, I wanted to be sure you all met him first.”
“Met?” Cassian started to ask, confused. “Who is-“
“Everybody,” Leia squealed, unable to hold in her excitement, “Please give it up for Li’l Artoo!”
Han walked through in the back door then, leading a miniature horse, and the office exploded.
“WHAT?!” Bodhi screamed.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” Shara started repeating over and over.
“It’s him,” Kes said in an awed whisper, “It’s really him.”
Baze didn’t say anything. But his normally gruff expression was gone and he giggled manically, and reached out to gently pet the horse.
“I can’t believe you got Li’l Artoo!!!” Jyn said excitedly as she began to stroke the horse’s head. “Leia, this is amazing.”
“I had to pull just about every string I could to get him, but he’ll be here for the whole Festival. We just have to be really careful with him. This little guy’s 25 years old now. He has to have a caretaker with him at all times.”
“Which for this weekend, is me,” Han announced. “Leia said I need to prove I can take care of this horse before she’ll even consider having kids with me.”
Everyone looked towards Leia quizzically. “It’s part of a twenty-seven step screening plan,” she clarified.
“That’s right,” Han said smugly, “I’ve made it to level three.”
Li’l Artoo whinnied at that, which made the office fawn over him even more. Bodhi got Luke to pet Li’l Artoo, which made him exclaim, “He’s so much softer than I thought! It’s like petting a cloud!”
“Yeah, but what’s his deal?” Cassian asked.
Everyone else froze. “What did you just say?” Chirrut asked, the typical warmth in his voice gone.
“Like, what does he do?” Cassian asked again, genuinely confused. “Does he do tricks?”
“Son,” Baze said with full seriousness, “That horse has an honorary degree from Notre Dame.”
“But what’s the big deal?” Cassian pressed. “It’s just a horse.”
“Blasphemy,” Jyn hissed, before taking the coffee mug from his hands. “You don’t deserve this.”
“Cassian,” Leia said seriously, “I would keep those thoughts to yourself, unless you want to make any more enemies in this town.”
Li’l Artoo whinnied again and stomped his hoof, as if in agreement. The City Hall employees rushed to fawn over him again as Cassian stood there, even more confused. He made eye contact with Kay, who just shrugged in response.
-
At the Harvest Festival site, the gang split up to complete their assigned duties from Jyn and Cassian’s fifteen-page prep list.
Luke and Bodhi walked up to the Festival’s entrance pushing a cart of medical supplies, tasked with making sure the First Aid tent was well stocked with anything the visitors or staff could need for emergencies. But to get inside they had to walk pass Baze, who sat in a folding chair, wearing sunglasses and reading a book.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Bodhi said. “Baze! Why aren’t you working?”
“I am working,” Baze said without looking up. “Cassian tasked me with watching the entrance.”
Luke was confused. “But….you’re not watching anything?”
“This isn’t fair,” Bodhi huffed. “The rest of us are out here moving equipment and setting up, and you’re just sitting in a chair.”
Baze closed his book with a sigh. “Little brother, when you are old like me and your joints creak, then you too can request lighter duties that match your reduced capability.”
Bodhi crossed his arms, unimpressed. “I’m guessing Cassian doesn’t know you bench pressed 200 pounds at the gym yesterday.”
Baze opened his book to return to reading. “Mind your own business.”
Bodhi and Luke walked past him and to the First Aid tent, where they began stacking bandages and bottles of aspirin. Bodhi continued to grumble about Baze. “I can’t believe him, relaxing while the rest of us work.”
“Cheer up, Bodhi,” Luke said brightly. “I’m sure Baze will help eventually, but focus on what we’re doing now. We’re contributing, helping make this event a success. We should take pride in our work.” Smiling, he began to sort all the bandages out by size.
I love this man, Bodhi thought, watching Luke stack the medical supplies with care.
Luke froze, a bandage still in each hand. He didn’t say anything, just looked straight ahead.
Bodhi realized he’d spoken out loud.
Shit.
-
“Captain,” Jyn said solemnly, saluting as she walked up to Cassian.
Cassian glanced down at his neon reflective vest, the words TRAFFIC CAPTAIN emblazoned on it in bold letters. “Funny. When it’s your turn to take a parking lot shift, I’ll make sure you’re demoted to ‘traffic sergeant.’”
“I can’t believe you’d pull rank on me like that,” she said in faux indignation.
“I get the feeling it won’t stop you,” he joked back. “But while I was directing traffic, what’d you get done over here, Sergeant?”
“Well, Captain,” Jyn started, surprised with how much fun she was having with this, “We got Bodhi and Luke to set up the first aid tents, helped Shara review her land acknowledgement one last time, and Melshi and I just finished setting up this section’s barricades when we decided to come looking for you.”
“You decided to go looking for him,” Melshi grumbled, mostly to himself. “And I got tired of hearing you wonder, ‘Where’s Cass? Where’s Cass?’”
“I’m impressed,” Cassian said to Jyn, “You got a lot done. You’re like the Pelé of getting all this prep work finished.”
“Not as much as I’m sure you were the Pelé of directing traffic,” Jyn replied.
“I liked it better when you couldn’t stand each other,” Melshi grumbled again.
“Well,” Cassian admitted, “I’m just glad I haven’t done anything to fuck it all up yet. After all the towns I’ve worked in, I’m starting to think I’m cursed.”
“Hey,” Jyn said seriously, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Relax, okay? You’ve done amazing work, and everything’s going to be perfect. There is no curse, this Festival isn’t Ice Town.”
“Thanks,” he replied, a bit unnerved at her sincerity. So he tried to play it off with a joke. “You’ve been oddly complimentary, though. Is this just a distraction to steal my wallet or something?”
“Never mind, I take it all back, pendejo,” she smiled.
He smiled back. “That’s better.”
“It’s not,” Melshi interjected. He wished he’d gone on horse duty with Han instead.
-
Melshi would change his mind, though, if he knew how much of an ass Han was being at the horse enclosure.
“That’s right,” Han drawled, “I’m personally responsible for this horse’s upkeep and care this weekend. In fact, you could say I’m the reason Yavin’s biggest mammal celebrity is even still alive.”
Kes grabbed the list Han was waving around and read from it. “You forgot his 10 o’clock meds.”
“What?” Han exclaimed, snatching the paper back. “That can’t be.”
“Look right there,” Kes said smugly. “ ’10 am- diabetes and heat burn medicine, mashed and mixed into peanut butter, feed by spoon.’ You crossed off the heart burn, but looks like you missed the diabetes meds.”
“So I forgot one thing, big deal,” Han huffed. “I’ll give it to him an hour late, that’s not going to kill the horse.”
“But so much for being ‘the most responsible person in the history of ever-‘”
“Stop that.”
“- because if you were, I don’t think you’d need a list to keep everything straight.”
“You think you could do better?”
“I wouldn’t make such a careless mistake.”
“Well there’s no way to prove that is there, Dameron? Because only one of us was trusted with the horse, and it wasn’t you.”
“You’re not more qualified than me, Solo, you just got lucky.”
“You think so?”
“I know so!”
If either Han or Kes were a better caretaker, they would have noticed the gate to the horse enclosure had come unlatched. If they’d just stop arguing with each other for a moment about who was more careful, they’d have noticed Li’l Artoo sniffing the gate quizzically.
But neither of them did notice. So Li’l Artoo whinnied to himself, pushed the gate open with his nose, and happily trotted off on an adventure.
-
There was a staff meeting at the front entrance of the Festival grounds. Baze didn’t move from his chair, just flipped to another page in his book. Han and Kes were nowhere to be seen, which wasn’t all that surprising, but Luke’s absence was.
“Wasn’t Luke with you?” Leia asked Bodhi.
“Huh?” Bodhi jumped. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t scare him off.” He leaned over to whisper to Leia, “Why? Do you know where he is?”
Jyn and Cassian were in noticeably the most excited moods. “Great job, everyone,” Jyn said, “We’ve checked everything off the prep list. The First Aid tent, the farmer’s market section and carnival rides are all set up, all of the food trucks were able to park without an issue, and we haven’t seen a single racoon try to steal anything yet.”
“So, everything is ready to go,” Cassian said proudly, holding up a hand.
“Ready to go perfectly,” Jyn finished, returning the high five. Which was actually just the first step of a multi-part secret handshake she made Cassian practice with her during one of their more delirious-from-sleep-deprivation planning sessions. They slapped the back of their hands together, fist bumped, dapped each other up, and then shot finger guns at each other while laughing and making “Pew! Pew! Pew!” noises.
The rest of their friends stared at them, wondering what the hell happened to the “Jyn and Cassian: Sarcastic Assholes” they knew, when they’d been replaced with these giggly clones instead.
“Ugh,” Melshi groaned, fed up from being forced to spend the day working with them. “Get a room.”
Jyn and Cassian froze, and looked at their friends, who continued to look at them as if they’d each grown an extra head.
Cassian cleared his throat, and straightened up. “Uh, Leia, I believe you said there was someone asking to meet with the team?”
“Right,” Leia said, still looking at Jyn and Cassian as if something was off she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “Remember when Holdo said she had a new editor in chief? Dedra Meero? Well, Meero’s insisting on a meeting before the Festival fully opens.”
“And you said yes?” Shara exclaimed. “Why?”
“She’s the editor of the biggest paper in town, it looks worse if she asks for an exclusive and we deny her one.”
“It’s fine, we can handle this,” Jyn started.
“We just need to prepare exactly what we’ll say,” Cassian finished. “How much time do we have?”
Leia’s phone buzzed with a Here. text from an unsaved number. “Uh, none.”
The gang swore as a blonde woman purposefully strode up to their group, an assistant trailing behind her. Their immaculately pressed suits contrasted with the City Hall employees’ jeans and Harvest Festival t-shirts. And Cassian’s neon TRAFFIC CAPTAIN vest, which he was still wearing for some reason.
“Mayor Organa,” was all the woman stated in greeting.
“Ms. Meero, great to finally meet you,” Leia said in her cheerful politician voice that always made Jyn want to gag. This time, Jyn just limited herself to a roll of her eyes. “Let me introduce you to the rest of the team-“
“That won’t be necessary, I’ve done my research on your staff. “ Dedra looked each of them up and down with a frown. “Bodhi Rook, a medical school dropout turned nurse running your public health department.” (“Nursing was a better fit-“ Bodhi started, before Dedra cut him off.) “Shara Bey, made for herself the position of ‘City Equity Coordinator’ but still hasn’t defined what exactly it is that she does.” (“We’re still developing-“) “Ruescott Melshi, a glorified intern.” (“Hey! Don’t call me-“) “Jyn Erso, daughter of criminals in more ways than one.” (Jyn didn’t say anything, but did grit her teeth and think, She can’t possibly know everything.) “And then two of our newcomers. Kay Tuesso, stuck consulting instead of practicing law because he never passed the bar exam, and Cassian Andor, the single common denominator in fifteen separate towns filing for bankruptcy. Sixteen if you count Ferrix, which I assure you, I do. Would be such a pity if Yavin isn’t able to break that curse.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m very curious to see what kind of event this group could pull off. Mayor Organa, why don’t you show me and my assistant, Heert, around?”
“Ms. Meero, Dedra if I may-“ Leia started.
“You may not,” Dedra said primly.
“Dedra,” Leia said, a smile on her face but malice clear in her voice, “I don’t know how you’re used to treating people on your assignments, but you will not talk to my team like that. These are Yavin’s most dedicated public servants, our government’s best and brightest.”
“And what a shame then, Leia,” Dedra replied with disgust, “If this is the best you can muster up. I see before me a misfit gang of rejects and failures unable to launch themselves beyond one small town. Yet these are the talents you’ve decided to wage the future of that very town against?”
Leia drew herself up to her full height- which wasn’t much, granted, but she tried- to bring herself up to Dedra Meero’s face. “I have no reason not to fully trust my team. We’ve worked our asses off for months to make this Festival a success and save our town. We worked late nights and early mornings, through sick days and endless weeks, tackled mountains of paperwork and fundraised every last spare dollar we could find. This team took hope, and turned it into practical action that is going to save our town. We’ve foreseen and prepared for every possible disaster, so wipe that smug look of disdain off your face and get ready to watch this Harvest Festival go perfectly.”
“Perfectly?” Dedra asked evenly.
“Perfectly,” Leia repeated.
“Guys!” Kes shouted out of breath as he ran up. “We’ve got a problem.”
Han, right behind him, delivered the news. “Li’l Artoo is gone!”
While the rest of the group’s faces broke into anger and shock, Dedra Meero began to smile in glee.
-
Luke knew panicking and running away was a bad look. He did it anyway, because he didn’t know what else to do.
Bodhi loved him. His boyfriend’s words rattled around his head. Once those words were out there, they couldn’t be taken back. But Luke panicked, and did what he always did when he panicked, sought out wide open space to clear his head.
Growing up in Tatooine, he had a spot on the farm he’d sneak away to for moments like this. A wide open spot a ways from the house. Surrounded by nothing but the sandy fields for miles, he’d watch the sunset and think. But this was Yavin, not Tatooine, so the wide open spaces of his childhood were instead the booths of the almost complete Harvest Festival. So he walked past carnival games and farmers’ produce stands, agricultural exhibits and recycling displays, volunteers hustling around him. There would be no peace and quiet here. He thought about running away. But then he remembered the meditation classes he’d been attending at the community center with Yoda and Chirrut. They insisted that you didn’t need a quiet space to clear your head, and encouraged him (fine, yelled at him) to practice until he could meditate anywhere.
So he took a steadying breath, and did. At the edge of the Festival and the parking lot, as volunteers shouted at each other and trucks carrying porta-potties honked their horns. He took another breath, and the chaos began to melt away.
Search your feelings, Luke, a voice (Yoda’s? Chirrut’s? No, oddly enough it sounded like the voice of his old neighbor from Tatooine, Old Man Ben) told him. Search your feelings, Luke, for what you know to be true.
But the truth was hard to face. It brought up uncomfortable questions and thoughts he usually kept hidden deep down, in order to give off as positive and carefree of an attitude as possible. Luke feared opening his eyes to the truth.
Yet open his eyes he did, because at that moment a putrid smell hit his nose. A porta-potty had just been deposited just in front of his meditation spot. Shit. Literally.
-
Baze closed his book forcefully. “This wouldn’t have happened on my watch,” he grumbled as he stood.
“This was your watch!” Bodhi started. “Han and Kes, sure, but couldn’t you have kept an eye out-“
“With me, Rook!” Baze boomed. “Solo, Dameron, you too. We have a horse to bring home.” Luke walked back up at that point, and Baze roped him in as well. “Skywalker, fall in. Chirrut says you’re in touch with the universe, see if you can sense for me where Artoo went.”
Luke eyed the group, particularly Bodhi, uneasily. “I don’t know if that’s the best-“
“Let’s go,” Baze commanded, and Bodhi, Luke, Kes, and Han fell in behind him like dutiful soldiers.
-
As Baze led his search party away, Dedra slipped away to join the crowd of other reporters arriving to cover the Festival preparations. Leia circled up the rest of the employees left at the entrance.
“Can I go slash her car tires?” Jyn asked hopefully.
“No,” Leia said. “But now we know we cannot drop the ball on anything else. I trust the guys will find Li’l Artoo soon.” Shara, Jyn, Cassian, Kay, and Melshi looked surprised at that. “Fine, I trust that Baze will find him soon.” The rest of them mumbled their agreement at her correction. “Until then, we can’t let Meero- or any of the reporters- think anything is wrong. Anything happens, if so much as a water bottle gets sorted into the wrong recycling bin, you don’t say anything. You handle it, and you handle it quietly. Got it? Good. We can’t let this set us back. Shara, get ready, you and I are going to speak to the press on schedule. Everyone else, set out any fires you see immediately.”
As the group broke away, Cassian said to Jyn, “It looks too obvious if you slash her tires. Meero will know someone’s out to get her.”
“Or?” she asked, hoping he was going somewhere with this.
He was. “Or, you could stick a nail directly behind her tire so when she goes to back out she pops it herself.”
“I like your style, Andor.” Jyn began walking towards the temporary stage the construction volunteers had just finished assembling, their tools still neatly piled next to it. “It’s a shame we don’t have any nails.”
“Such a shame indeed.” He felt his phone ring as Jyn began to look through the stack. Cassian saw Luthen’s name, sent the call straight to voicemail, and the phone was back in his pocket before Jyn turned and handed him three nails. He raised his eyebrow.
“Insurance only covers it if something happens to all four,” she explained.
“And you know this how?”
Jyn grinned manically, and Cassian thought to himself that her smile could be the death of him. “C’mon now, a girl can’t go giving away all her secrets.”
-
All of the Yavin press was at the Festival now, alongside over a dozen outlets from surrounding towns, too. With so many television crews trying to plug into one generator, people were jostling each other for available outlets.
“I got this!” Heert, Meero’s assistant announced, walking up with a bundle of extension cords. The press began to cheer.
Except for one local journalist.
“Oh my!” Cee Threepio exclaimed. “This is an electrical nightmare! A fire hazard! Someone must doing something, I must tell-”
Meero stepped up behind him, blocking Threepio’s way out of the crowd. “I don’t think you need to go telling anyone.”
-
Baze was extremely disappointed in the tracking abilities of his men. “You know, people used to hunt for survival.”
“As do I Baze,” Han replied solemnly. “Last week I went to get groceries, and I had to fight a guy for the last box of pizza rolls.”
Kes scoffed. “Great meal choice. What are you, 12?”
Han turned on him. “Do you not remember being the guy I had to fight for them?”
“It wasn’t a fight, and I let you win, because I went and bought broccoli instead.”
“Bullshit! I saw you buy ice cream!”
“Are you ignoring me?” Bodhi tried to ask Luke. “Because of what I said earlier?”
“What? Huh? Did you say something earlier? That’s weird, because I don’t remember you ever saying anything to me at all.”
Luke’s horrible lying just annoyed Bodhi more. “Oh okay, great then. Because I didn’t say anything at all. And anything I did say, I didn’t mean, and I take back.”
“What?” Now, Luke was panicking. “What do you mean, you take it back?”
“I’m sorry, what are we talking about? I thought neither of us remembered anything we said.”
“Enough!” Baze shouted over the bickering. “Gentlemen, we need to focus. We have no leads, and we need at least a general direction of where to look. We need to head for high ground, search for any sign of the horse.”
“There is no high ground,” Bodhi said with exasperation, “We’re having this Festival in an old lot, remember?”
“Well even if there is no high ground, what’s the highest thing we can climb on top of?” Kes asked.
All five of them slowly looked up. They were standing under the Ferris wheel.
-
Shara tapped the mic to check it was on, before speaking to the crowd of journalists and TV crews. “Good evening, and welcome to the Yavin Harvest Festival’s pre-event press conference. We’re excited to answer any questions you may have and spread news about this weekend’s activities. But before we get started, we would like to begin with a land acknowledgment. The City of Yavin is located on the ancestral land of the Talz Nation-”
“Is it true that the Festival is cursed?” a voice shouted from the crowd.
Shara wasn’t sure she heard interruption correctly, so she just continued. “-the ancestral land of the Talz Nation,” she repeated, “Currently led by Chief Thi Sen. I’d now like to invite up the chief-”
“Curse?” voices in the crowd started to rumble.
“What curse?”
“There’s a curse?”
“Are we all cursed?”
Just off stage, Thi Sen leaned over to whisper to Leia, “What is going on?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” she replied, just as confused.
A frustrated Shara decided to go off-script. “Before we get any further, is there anything keeping everyone from paying attention that I can address right now?”
It unleashed an avalanche of questions.
“What’s this about a curse?”
“What is the origin of the reports of a curse?”
“Does the City have an official policy on belief in curses?”
“How is the mayor prepared to engage in anti-curse protections?”
“Tell us about the curse!”
“Tell us! Tell us!”
“This is fucking ridiculous,” Jyn muttered to Cassian.
“I don’t know where this is coming from,” Shara told the crowd, “But obviously there is no such thing as curses.”
“Then how do you explain the disappearance of Li’l Artoo?” Meero exclaimed through a megaphone.
A hush fell over the crowd.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Cassian admitted to Jyn.
“Where’d she get a megaphone?” Kay muttered. “Does she carry it around just in case?”
“I, uh, I-“ Shara stuttered.
“Are you actually going to lie to the public about this?” Meero accused. “What really happened to Li’l Artoo?”
That set off another round of questions.
“Is Li’l Artoo in trouble?”
“Has he been kidnapped?”
“Has he been horse-napped?”
“Is he DEAD?”
“Li’l Artoo is fine,” Leia insisted as she took the mic. “Am I rethinking my choice in caretakers? Maybe a little. But we have our best people looking for him-“
“So he is gone!” Meero shouted through the megaphone. “Doesn’t that make you wonder what else they’re lying to you about? What else there is to the curse?”
“That’s it,” Jyn said to Cassian and Kay, before turning towards the crowd. “I’m going in there, and I’m wrestling that damn megaphone from her myself.”
Kay held her back. “As a lawyer, and knowing you and your likely methods, I’d advise that you don’t and avoid an assault charge.”
Jyn narrowed her eyes. “You never passed the bar, don’t tell me what will or won’t be a crime.”
Kay rolled his eyes in response. “Fine, then as your legal consultant let me consult you to not commit assault.”
“And you want to know the cause of the curse?” Meero continued, the crowd even more worked up now. “The same thing that’s brought so many other towns to ruin. The curse is Cassian Andor!!!”
“There is no curse!” Leia shouted through the mic.
“How can you be sure of that?” Meero shouted back.
“Yeah!” the crowd added in response.
“Nothing is wrong with this Festival!” Leia insisted. “Everything is going perfectly!”
Which would have more been convincing if that wasn’t the moment the power went out.
-
“I don’t see anything,” Luke complained.
“You don’t hear anything, too,” Bodhi muttered from the seat next to him on the Ferris wheel.
On the bench above them, Han and Kes shoved each other.
“Stop touching me!”
“You stop touching me!”
Baze had claimed a bench for himself, but even as the highest up, he couldn’t see anything. “Fine, let’s just get down from here.”
Except that was the moment the power went out, and the slowly spinning Ferris wheel sputtered to a stop.
Leaving Bodhi and Luke, Kes and Han, and Baze stuck in the air.
-
Shara and Leia continued yelling back and forth with Meero and the crowd over whether or not Cassian Andor was a sign of the coming apocalypse.
“We should probably get him out of here,” Jyn said to Kay.
“Agreed,” Kay replied. “But only because I think it’s a good idea too. I’m not following your orders.” And he grabbed Cassian by the arms to drag him away.
“What are you-“ Cassian started. “What is happening?”
“We’re saving you from getting burned at the stake.” Jyn pulled back the flap to the nearest tent, checking that no one was in there.
Seeing that it was, Kay followed her in, and dumped Cassian inside. “The first aid tent,” Kay observed. “Great place to shelter from the mob. We can fight them off by pelting them with Advil.”
“What is their problem?” Cassian exclaimed. “Why are they obsessed with me?”
“Who can blame them, they can’t get enough of that face,” Jyn said sarcastically.
Cassian frowned. “Can you be serious, for once?”
“You both need to focus on the bigger issue,” Kay insisted. “What are we going to do about the press? About Meero?”
“Who cares about them?” Jyn said. “Fuck them. We do the Festival anyway and show them it’s a success.”
“Maybe it would be best if I left until this all blew over,” Cassian offered.
Jyn turned on him. “Absolutely not. You run away, you give in, it lets those assholes win. We can’t have that.”
“We can’t have that?” Cassian said angrily. “What we? Only one of us is getting insults hurled at them!”
“So you’re just going to leave, then? Abandon us all?”
“I think it hardly counts as abandonment if no one wants you around.”
“Oh really?” Jyn said in a quiet, menacing voice. “Is that what you told yourself when you ran away from Ferrix?”
Cassian leaned forward too, his voice matching hers. “That’s different and you know it. Ferrix was my home. Yavin is just a job.”
“Just a job?” she repeated, daring him to take it back. He didn’t. “Fine. If we’re just a job, then leave. Who’d want you in our town anyway?” She turned to storm out of the tent.
“Who’d want to stay in a town weirdly obsessed with a pony anyway?” he shouted after her.
“Miniature horse!” Jyn shouted without turning back.
Cassian swore to himself as he pulled at his hair. “She’s impossible!”
“I agree,” Kay butted in. “And her high regard of the horse is particularly illogical.”
“Can we stop talking about the horse?”
“I just don’t understand why of all the animals, that horse is their town’s hero. Li’l Artoo isn’t significantly distinct from others in his species, so it’s not a matter of cuteness. And frankly, though my interactions with him were limited today, he does strike me as horribly condescending.”
“Kay, it’s a horse. Stop pretending you can speak to animals.”
“I never said that, that sounds deranged. I’m just good at understanding them, that’s all.”
“Growing up, you thought you could talk to my dog.”
“And Bee was a delightful chap. Unlike this damn horse.”
“Can everyone just stop focusing on the horse? It doesn’t make any sense!”
“No, Cassian, you know what doesn’t make any sense? What hasn’t made any sense the entire time we’ve been here? You. Ever since we came to Yavin, you’ve acted in extremely erratic, irregular ways. You paid for a children’s performer, then tried to hide it from me. You keep pulling us into matters far beyond the scope of what we were sent here to do, like this mess of a Festival. Constituent complaints, the media circus, Jyn Erso’s schemes- none of this is our job. And it’s looking like you don’t want to do your actual job at all. You keep dodging Luthen’s calls, you won’t even tell him when we’re leaving here, when we’ve stayed far longer than we were ever supposed to. Nothing is normal in Yavin, and frankly, neither are you.”
“You’re right,” Cassian admitted.
“Really?” Kay asked, shocked his friend wasn’t putting up more of a fight at this.
“You’re right,” Cassian repeated. “Things are different in Yavin. Which means I need to be too.” He got up, leaving the tent.
“That’s not what I meant!” Kay said quickly, following him. “Cass! What are you doing?”
“I’m going to find Chirrut!” he called out without turning back.
-
Despite Baze’s hopes, the arguments between those stuck on the Ferris wheel didn’t decrease much as the night went on.
Kes and Han argued over which of them Li’l Artoo would prefer to play fetch with, before it devolved into an argument of whether or not Li’l Artoo even knew how to play fetch. Both accused the other of not teaching the horse that morning.
Bodhi and Luke accused each other of not remembering the first movie they watched together. Luke argued it was Rocketman, but Bodhi insisted it must have been Burlesque.
Han taunted Kes, “I bet you don’t even know Li’l Artoo’s favorite food.” Kes said it was oranges, Han corrected him that it was apples, Kes said his answer didn’t count if he didn’t know what kind of apple.
Luke said he never liked sleeping over at Bodhi’s anyway, because there weren’t enough pillows, but Bodhi countered by accusing him of being a blanket hog.
Kes said he obviously cared more about Li’l Artoo because he met the horse at an old Harvest Festival when he was 8, when Han didn’t meet the horse in person until 2005. Han snapped back that at least Li’l Artoo never bit him.
Bodhi told Luke that despite how much he cared about fashion, his taste in clothes was weird. Luke told Bodhi he needed to get a better smelling shampoo.
Baze, not for the first time that night, wondered what his chances would be if he tried to climb down. By his estimates, they were only a hundred feet in the air.
The fights eventually died down for a bit, until around 3 am when Han accused Kes of farting on him, and all four of them started arguing all over again.
Baze continued to eye the Ferris wheel’s support beams.
-
Kay was driving to the Festival grounds the next morning when he saw Jyn and Melshi walking up and down a residential street. Curious, he parked his car on the side of the road and walked towards them.
“I’m tired of this, Jyn,” Melshi complained.
“That’s too damn bad!” Jyn snapped. “We have twenty more neighborhoods to go.” She picked up a newspaper from the nearest driveway, tossed it in the recycling bin Melshi was dragging along, and headed towards the next house.
“What’s going on here?” Kay asked.
“Meero printed another story about Cassian in today’s paper,” Jyn explained, tossing another paper into the bin. “So we’re getting rid of the copies before anyone reads that filth.”
“We’ve been out since 4 am,” Melshi added. “And she won’t tell me if this if a felony or not.”
Jyn glared at Kay, challenging him to tell her to stop on some legality.
Kay just rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the next newspaper. “It’s not even a misdemanor,” he said as he tossed it into the bin. He had no clue if that was true or not, but damn it if he wasn’t going to help out a friend. And if Jyn was willing to get up at 4 am and walk miles across town to try and save Cassian’s reputation, then that made her his friend too.
They continued down the street, Jyn picking up the newspapers from one side, and Kay grabbing them from the other.
-
“And you’re sure this will work?” Cassian asked after reviewing his plan with Chirrut one last time.
“Of course!” the older man said happily. “If there’s anything I’ve learned in my years in this town, when they go low-“
“You go high?”
“No, of course not. You play at their ridiculous game but you go even weirder. It’s the Yavin way.”
Cassian sighed. “Well, if it’ll save the Festival, I’ll do anything.”
Chirrut clapped him on the shoulder. “You know, I’ve always appreciated your unconventional ways, Captain.”
“Always?” Cassian asked, confused. He was also confused about the ‘captain’ bit, he didn’t remember telling Chirrut about the traffic vest. “We’ve only known each other for a few months.”
“Oh no,” Chirrut smiled mischievously. “I believe we’ve all known each other many more lifetimes than that.”
-
“How much do you know about hacking?” Jyn asked, rolling the next newspaper into a ball and shooting it towards the recycling bin.
Kay grabbed the assist and dunked it in. “If you’re asking me if I can get onto Meero’s website and take down the article, no, I don’t know how to do that.”
Melshi worked on folding another newspaper into a paper airplane. “What if we went on the dark web and paid one of those hackers for hire to do it for us?”
“It’s the dark web. How would we know we really hired a hacker, and didn’t accidentally hire a hitman?”
Melshi threw the newspaper airplane into the bin. “How badly do you want to help Cass?”
Kay didn’t like how seriously he considered it.
Jyn’s phone rang. She sighed when she saw Leia’s name, but picked it up anyway, and tried to put on a cheerful voice. “Heyyyyy, boss. Girl boss, boss babe….what’s up, girl?”
“Where are you?”
Jyn dropped the act. “I told you, I’m trying to save the Festival.”
“Really?” Leia said, unimpressed. “Or are you running away from it?”
“Of course not,” Jyn replied, watching Kay and Melshi pelt each other with ‘newspaper snowballs.’ “I am definitely not stalling for time.”
“I know this has been a big deal for you, the biggest thing in your life for months, and you don’t want it to be over. You want to keep running the show, keep controlling every last detail, keep working with your friends. But time’s out of your control, Jyn. The Festival’s opening today, whether you’re ready or not.”
“I just need a little more time, time to make everything perfect. We still have a couple more streets to pull newspapers from, we haven’t even figured out how to combat the online press, no one has any idea where Cassian or Li’l Artoo is-“
“Jyn.”
“Maybe you could push it back another hour, or we open it tomorrow instead-“
“Jyn.”
Jyn sighed uneasily. “What if it’s not enough? What if I singlehandedly just doomed Yavin? What if I’m the curse?”
“You know there’s no curse. The Festival is giving us what this town needed most- hope.”
“Hope won’t save us from bankruptcy.”
“No, but it’s a start.”
When Jyn hung up the phone, Kay and Melshi stared at her expectantly.
“Well?”
“What is it?”
“Pack it up, guys,” she said, grabbing one last newspaper as they reached the end of the street. “We’ve got a Harvest Festival to open.”
-
“Shara Bae,” Lando announced as he picked up the call. “I know it sounds like I just said your name, but I didn’t. Instead of Bey, like b-e-y, I said ‘Bae,’ like b-a-e-“
“Explaining the joke doesn’t make it any funnier, Lando.”
“I think my many TikTok followers would have to disagree.”
“All fourteen of them are wrong, then, but that’s not why I’m calling you. We need to borrow your generator for the Festival.”
“Woah, slow your roll, what makes you think I have a generator?”
“Look, everyone knows you’re mining crypto and you keep the computers in the Falcon’s walk-in freezer so they stay cold. And the generator literally just sits outside the freezer door, you’re not using it, so bring it down here so we can let the press plug into it.”
“Sorry, hun, but this doesn’t sound like a sweet enough deal to make me load that generator onto Han’s death trap of a truck and drive it out to you.”
Shara sighed, muttered to herself, “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” before saying into the phone, “I don’t think you heard me, Lando. We need the generator for the press. They’re all here. All of them. Including one journalist in particular that you’d be dying to meet.”
Lando gasped. “Are you messing with me right now?”
“While I never understood why your biggest so-called celebrity crush is just a local reporter, no, I am not messing with you right now.”
“She’s not just a local reporter. Elthree has the sexiest voice in the business!”
Shara summoned all her seriousness to make her next sentence sound genuine instead of sarcastic. “Well if you bring us that generator for the journalists to use, I’m sure she’ll tell you in her sexy voice just how grateful she is.” Saying it made her gag a little anyway.
But Lando was sold. “I’ll be there in ten minutes!”
-
“Look Han, the sun’s rising,” Kes said sarcastically. “This must be a first for you, because you’re never up before noon.”
“Sleeping in until noon must be nice,” Bodhi added. “I wouldn’t know, with how loudly Luke snores.”
“Sure, add snoring to the list of things that make me unloveable,” Luke snapped.
“Stop it!” Baze shouted. “All of you! I’m tired of you arguing about your problems instead of just fixing them.
Bodhi, Luke, shut up and say you love each other, because you clearly do. You’re both just scared because Luke’s supposed to leave town soon and you don’t want to think about your futures. But the future’s coming whether you like it or not, stop pretending you live in some goddamn bubble with all the time in the world because you don’t. And don’t you dare just break up because it seems easier than talking about what’s next. That’s a coward’s move. If you don’t make some kind of plan for what you’re going to do moving forward, then life’s going to come at you hard and knock you on your ass.
Han, Kes, stop trying to one up each other, because your absurd competition over Li’l Artoo is the reason we got in this mess in the first place. Neither of you actually cared about the horse, you just wanted to prove who was the more mature caretaker. Because in the absence of having a father growing up, and instead of going to therapy, you have projected your insecurities onto the fantasy of being the world’s greatest father without doing any real work. You should have focused on what was actually in front of you, instead of competing with each other- proof both of you need to get your shit together before you ever even think of throwing away your condoms.
Now, everybody say sorry right now, because if you argue for one more minute I will throw you off this Ferris wheel myself!”
“…I’m sorry,” the other four mumbled in unison.
Kes turned to Han. “Look man, I was an asshole. Shara and I have talked about kids, we want them, but we know we’re not ready yet. And then just hearing you go on and on about how you finally convinced Leia- it just made me jealous, when I should have been happy for you instead.”
“I might have pulled a dick move too,” Han said. “Leia’s not that convinced either, she just said she’d think about it, and I got too cocky and showed off instead of actually proving I could take care of the horse. I can’t believe we were such horrible dads to Li’l Artoo.”
“It’s okay, we still have time to make it up to him. And then when you and I have kids for real one day, we’ll make them be best friends.”
“And they can fight each other over the last box of pizza rolls but like their old men used to.” Han reached over to give Kes the slap on the back that constituted a straight man’s idea of a hug.
On the seats below them, Bodhi turned to look Luke in the eye. “I am scared, you know. But I know how I feel, and I want to talk through that, even if you don’t feel the same way, because Baze is right, we have to figure out something, even if it is how much it would hurt to break up, because-“
Luke cut off his rambling. “I love you.” Bodhi grinned madly, and Luke continued. “But I’m scared too. If I stay in Yavin, I’d have to quit my job. Leave Cassian and Kay, the life I’ve led for years. I know we don’t have to figure that out right this second, but we do have to figure it out soon.”
“I’m just glad I get to figure it out with you,” Bodhi said, before leaning in for a kiss.
“This is getting too sappy,” Baze grumbled. “All I wanted was an end to the fighting, I didn’t ask for a Hallmark movie.”
“Fuck you, Baze,” Bodhi shouted up.
“Let the love birds have their moment,” Han added. “Maybe I’ll tell Dameron I love him too.”
“Shut up,” Kes suddenly breathed.
“Damn, it’s just a joke,” Han said, offended. “I’m not going to make you leave Shara or anything.”
“No, everybody, shut up!” Kes said more forcefully, before pointing off in the distance. “Look over there!”
There, in the center of the corn maze, the five of them could finally see-
“LI’L ARTOO!”
-
“You ready?” Leia asked carefully.
Jyn cracked her knuckles. “Guess so. Time to go to war.” Clearing her throat, she stepped up to the mic, keenly aware of the crowd of now hundreds- all the journalists from the day before, but now citizens lined up to attend the Festival too- in front of her. “Welcome, everyone, to the Yavin Harvest Festival. We’re here today-“
“Stop right there!” a voice shouted. Jyn turned, prepared to personally fight whoever was trying to interrupt her, only to be surprised by the sight of Chirrut, running up the stage in his old monk’s robes, followed closely on his heels by none other than Cassian. He stopped in front of her, before following Chirrut the rest of the way to the center of the stage.
“You didn’t leave?” Jyn leaned in to whisper away from the mic.
He whispered back, “You know I couldn’t stay away.” Cassian winked at her before pulling away and joining Chirrut.
Jyn joined Leia at the edge of the stage, who asked, “What’s going on?”
“Uh…I’m not sure.”
But with the mic in hand, it was Chirrut’s show now. “Distinguished guests,” he boomed out in a powerful voice, “You do not know me, but I know you. I am a powerful shaman, who has been watching Yavin closely for years.”
Leia buried her face in her hands. “You’re got to be kidding me.”
Jyn wasn’t lost yet. “Hold on, let’s see where they’re going with this.”
“I was skeptical of this Harvest Festival from the moment it was announced,” Chirrut continued, “…which is why I was the one to curse it!” Gasps and cries rang out from the crowd. “I know, I know, it was a drastic measure, but I doubted this town could handle such an event…however, I was proven wrong. Because one brave warrior has valiantly fought the effects of the curse! One young man has shown his own worthiness and this town’s. And that man….is Cassian Andor!” Cassian stepped forwarded, gritting his teeth as he stomached being forced to stand in the spotlight. The crowd wasn’t sure how to react, some booing out of instinct, others apprehensively giving a few slow claps. “Cassian Andor has saved this Festival, so in honor of that, I will be lifting the curse from him!”
The crowd began to cheer as Chirrut danced around Cassian, chanting and occasionally throwing an orange powder pulled deep from the robe’s pockets on him.
“What’s he chanting in?” Leia whispered. “Mandarin? Cantonese?”
“Gibberish,” Jyn replied, recognizing none of Chirrut’s syllables as anything resembling an actual language. “And, knowing Chirrut, I’m 90% sure that orange dust is just clay from the softball field down the street.”
“Doobie, doobie….doo!” Chirrut finished solemnly, before turning to the crowd, and raising his hands in triumph. “The curse….is…..LIFTED!!!!” Which was somehow perfectly timed to Han and Kes turning the corner with Li’l Artoo, and shouting, “Hey! We found him!”
The crowed went wild- yelling, cheering, clapping. Chirrut bowed before herding Cassian off stage, and handing the mic to Leia, who had to wait a surprisingly long time for the crowd to quiet down before she could continue the opening speech.
Off-stage, Jyn gave a slow clap. “I’m impressed. When are they giving you two your Oscars?”
“No recognition needed, I’m just glad to help the cause,” Chirrut said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find my husband, because I’m sensing he’s at his wit’s ends. Not like you need me around anyway, there’s plenty you two have to talk about alone.” He left with a dramatic turn of his robes.
Jyn and Cassian looked at each other, quiet for a moment, before Jyn said, “See? I knew you weren’t cursed.”
Cassian gave her a small smile. “I couldn’t let Yavin beat me at their own game without at least playing back. It just took some creative thinking, that’s all.”
“Well, thank you for your service,” she said with a straight face, before cracking a little as she reached out to wipe some of the clay off his shoulders. “Hey…I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. Accusing you of not caring, when I know you do. I shouldn’t have tried to make you stay when the crowd was throwing so much abuse at you.”
“And I shouldn’t have threatened to run away. I couldn’t quit, not when everything you worked for was on the line.”
“Hey, this Festival is just as much yours as it is mine. It’s ours.”
“Even if no one cares about any work we need and is only going to focus on a pony?” They looked to where the crowd was now circling Li’l Artoo, shrieking in delight.
“We’ve been over this, he’s a miniature horse, not a pony.”
“My apologies to the horse.”
“C’mon,” she said, gesturing for him to follow her. “You’re filthy. Get cleaned up, and I’ll see if I can find another shirt for you to put on.”
“As long as it’s not the ‘traffic captain’ vest,” he replied.
“What’s wrong? I thought you looked ruggedly handsome in it.”
Cassian froze, unsure if she was joking or not.
The problem was, Jyn didn’t know if she was joking too.
-
With the Harvest Festival in full swing, even more people started to show up and have a good time. Citizens explored the sustainable agriculture booths. Shoppers picked out locally grown produce at the farmer’s market. Children played at the carnival games and laughed loudly when they won.
But the sound of laughing children made Dedra Meero sick. “Disgusting, how they all act like this Festival is some fun thing, when it’s just a cover up of all the public corruption they’re really hiding from us. Mark my words,” she spat to Heert. “I’m going to make Cassian Andor and the rest of that City Hall scum regret ever making a fool of me.”
-
The only shirt Jyn found to replace Cassian’s clay covered one was a souvenir shirt that read I MET LI’L ARTOO AT THE YAVIN FESTIVAL in a circle around a screen-printed photo of the horse’s face. He laughed drily when he saw it, but dutifully put it on.
Jyn turned to at least give Cassian some privacy when he took off his dirt covered shirt. It was just a coincidence, really, that she only turned halfway and was actually able to catch a glimpse of his back from the corner of her eye if she concentrated. Not that she was concentrating. She was just frustrated to learn he had well-developed arm and back muscles, that’s all.
With his new shirt on, she told him he had no choice but to go see the horse in question. At the horse’s pen, the rest of the City Hall employees were gathered to watch Li’l Artoo.
“Isn’t he just the best!” Bodhi exclaimed as they watched the horse chew on some hay.
“No,” Luke said with a smile, “You’re the best.” He turned to the horse. “But he is a very close second!”
“You know what,” Cassian said, leaning on the fence next to Jyn, “He really is amazing.”
“You finally get it,” Jyn said with a satisfied smirk.
“Obviously,” Cassian replied. “He’s fantastic. I totally get it now.”
Jyn smiled at him, before turning back to watch Li’l Artoo.
While she was distracted, Cassian leaned over to whisper to Kay, “I don’t get it. At all. It’s just…kinda a small horse. What am I missing? What’s the big deal?”
“We do seem to be the only two immune to that horse’s wily charms,” Kay whispered back. “Does that make us crazy?”
Li’l Artoo whinnied, and the crowd exploded into a round of applause.
“He whinnied!” Chirrut said excitedly. “Did everyone hear him whinny?”
“Uh yeah, we totally did!” Cassian said in a fake tone of excitement. Then he turned to Kay to shake his head. Kay just shrugged.
-
“Good morning, City Hall!” Leia exclaimed when she walked into the packed meeting room Monday morning. Almost every single employee was in there, packed shoulder to shoulder. “What got all of you to turn out so bright and early?”
“Stop playing around Leia,” and “You know why we’re here,” echoed through the crowd.
“Alright, alright,” she laughed. “Can I get a drum roll?”
Everyone drummed on whatever open space they were closest to- the conference room table, the wall, their own lap. Melshi stood on a chair to drum on Kay’s head, which even he tolerated in his excitement for the news.
“We didn’t raise our goal amount….” Leia started dramatically. “……WE DOUBLED IT!!!!!”
Everyone cheered, high fived, flung their arms around each other’s shoulders. They were keeping their jobs, City Hall would stay open, and Yavin wasn’t going bankrupt.
“We did it?” Cassian repeated, still a bit shocked.
“WE DID IT!” Jyn screamed, throwing herself at him. He caught her without thinking and they hugged each other tightly- before realizing what they were doing, and suddenly pulling back.
Across the room, Shara was laughing. “Now that I know we’re not losing our jobs, I don’t feel bad telling you to pay up! Fifty bucks, babe, cash preferred.”
“Hold on, that’s not how a bet works,” Kes insisted. “We don’t know for sure anything they did or didn’t do. I’m not paying you anything until you can prove you won.”
“Won what?” Bodhi asked, bouncing up. “Did you guys really bet on if the Harvest Festival would work?”
“No,” Shara said, at the same time Kes said, “Ooo, we should’ve.”
“We were betting on when Jyn and Cassian would hook up,” Shara explained, “Before or after the Festival. And now that the Festival has come and passed, and the two of them are still oblivious idiots, Kes owes me.”
Kes rolled his eyes. “If you’re soooo confident they’re going to have a one-night stand right before Cassian leaves town, you can wait for me to pay you then.”
“Deal me into this,” Bodhi said suddenly. “Fifty bucks they do it by December.”
“That’s a horrible bet, the consultants are supposed to leave down next week.”
Bodhi just grinned mischievously. “Maybe I know something you don’t. Maybe, Luke just told me he got their assignment extended through the end of the year.”
“Wait,” Shara said, “So what does this mean for you and him?”
Bodhi still grinned like he was hiding something when he said, “Let’s just say, we’re working on a plan for our future.”