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“And here’s the space,” Leia announced as she opened the door, showing Luke, Cassian, and Kay the empty office. “We still need to drag the three desks in here, but there’s plenty of room.”
“Leia, this is literally the nicest office we’ve ever had to work in,” Luke said, as he took the space in with a grin. “We cannot thank you enough.”
“Well, you needed a place to work, it’s the least I can do. Because I’m literally required to.”
“Does anyone else hear that?” Kay said sharply, looking up. There was a thumping noise coming from the vents.
“Hear what?” Luke asked.
“I hear it too,” Cassian said. “It sounds like something in the ceiling.” The thumping suddenly stopped.
“Probably just some raccoons,” Leia said with a nonchalant wave of her hand. “Have I told you three about the raccoons yet?”
Before any of the consultants could respond, Chirrut walked into the room, checking the space in front of him with a wide sweep of his walking stick, which the blind man used to see. “Is this the new office?”
“Chirrut!” Leia exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today. Luke, Cassian, Kay, I believe you’ve already had a chance to meet Chirrut.”
“Mr. Imwe, good to see you again,” Luke smiled. “Although I didn’t realize you worked in City Hall too. Which department are you in?”
“Yes,” Chirrut said brightly, without elaborating further. Kay made a confused face at Leia, who just shrugged, before Chirrut continued. “This office has been empty for years, though, so I will need to sage it before you fully move in.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary-“ Cassian began.
“No, you don’t need to repay me.” Chirrut interrupted. “But there is something I’ve been wanting to do for the three of you. Since you’re new to Yavin, let me try to see what your future here will hold.”
“Are you saying you see futures?” Kay asked skeptically. “That’s scientifically impossible- he’s holding my hand now. Leia, your employee is holding my hand.”
“I’m not her employee,” Chirrut corrected, before continuing. “Kay Tuesso, you miss the forest by focusing only on the trees. Broaden your horizons, and you will find what you seek.”
“That makes no sense,” Kay insisted. “A forest is made of trees, why would I ignore the trees?”
“Cassian Andor,” Chirrut began, turning as he ignored Kay. “It’s time to stop running, and go home. But remember that home isn’t where you come from, but where you belong.” Cassian stood there, his only acknowledgment of the statement being a curt nod.
“You didn’t touch him,” Kay complained to the room. “I have to get my hand grabbed, but he doesn’t?”
“And Luke Skywalker,” Chirrut said finally. Luke excitedly put his hands in the older man’s outstretched palms. “Your search is almost over, as you will find love and family in the most unexpected of places.”
“That’s beautiful,” Luke breathed, blinking back tears. Kay rolled his eyes.
The thumping in the vents returned then, but sounded like someone banging on the metal. “Oh that’s right,” Chirrut said, as if suddenly remembering something. “I was supposed to make you uncomfortable.” He cleared his throat, before gesturing to the consultants. In a grave voice, he intoned, “All three of you will die in Yavin.”
“Impossible,” Kay said quickly. “Scientists believe the first person to live to 150 has already been born. And I am convinced I am that human being.”
“Uh, thanks anyway, Chirrut,” Leia said, as she began to try and push him out the door. “But, we should let the guys get settled in here. You probably came by to see Baze? Or Jyn? Or literally anyone else in the building?”
“Probably Baze, I think Jyn will be a while.” As he walked out the door, he hit the office’s thermostat with his shoulder, turning the air conditioner on. “Oops, did I bump into something?”
As the air turned on, from the vent where there was previously the thumping noise, more thumps continued, now accompanied by the sounds of a female voice cursing and someone clearly trying to crawl out.
Cassian squinted at the ceiling. “That better not be-“
---
“Chirrut!” Jyn grumpily exclaimed, walking into Baze’s office as she brushed the dust from the vents off her pants. “When I said, ‘Make them uncomfortable,’ I was hoping for a little more subtlety. And, when I said ‘Make them uncomfortable,’ I didn’t mean me.”
“Says the woman who was crawling through the ceiling!” Baze huffed.
Jyn shot him a look. “I thought you said you were staying out of this.”
“Little sister,” Chirrut said before Baze could respond, “You know I agreed to help you because I love a good prank. I was never going to try and scare them off. Especially when they have such bright futures ahead of them in Yavin.”
“Don’t do me like that. You made all that up, you can’t sense things like that.”
“The forces of the universe work in mysterious ways,” Chirrut said as he walked out the door. “And Baze, don’t forget to pick up tofu for dinner on your way home.”
“He’s joking, right?” Jyn asked Baze.
“No, he’s not. It’s Meatless Monday.”
---
When all the staff gathered in Leia’s conference room for a budget meeting, there was the usual chatter of the group catching up, laughing. Luke, already popular among the City Hall employees, was greeted with a chorus of “Hey man!” and “Skywalker!” as he walked in. The happy mood ended abruptly when Cassian and Kay walked in behind him. The staff grew silent, and filed to their seats.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming here today!” Luke started.
“But, let’s get straight to business,” Kay said seriously. They both turned to Cassian.
Cassian sighed, and opened his notes. “While we’re reviewing the budget, we don’t want to run up any unnecessary expenses. So, we are limiting city expenses to only essential services. Infrastructure-“
“Hell yeah!” Kes shouted.
“Infrastructure,” Cassian repeated, “Utilities, emergency services. Everything else is elective, and on hold.” No one said anything, or moved. “That’ it. This…definitely could have been an email.”
Employees began surging towards Leia, arguing from across the room that their programs needed to be considered essential. Leia, ever the diplomat, tried to calm the disgruntled employees down. “No, I agree, Wedge, the DMV’s vanity plate program is a big part of local culture, however…”
“Luke, wait up,” Jyn said, the only one making her way to the consultants as they headed out the door. “I just want some clarification on what does and doesn’t fall under ‘essential services.’”
“Parks and recreation would not be included in that definition,” Kay interrupted. “A swing set is not a matter of life or death.”
“Okay first of all, that’s such a small part of what I do, it’s barely part of my job. Second of all, this isn’t a question for one of the grumpy ones. And besides, I heard you had an interesting conversation with Chirrut earlier today. Are you sure you really want to be so bold in saying what is or isn’t life and death, Kay?”
Kay opened his mouth to argue back, before pausing. “It didn’t mean anything,” he said quickly.
Jyn turned back to Luke. “We’re supposed to be having a kids concert today, in Amidala Park. It’s the kick-off to our summer series, we do a big event with a children’s performer to get the kids excited about parks so they want to come back and participate in some of our outdoor education programs.”
“Oh that sounds like a wonderful idea!” Luke said excitedly. “I’m sure we can make it happen. Cassian?”
“No,” Cassian replied, not looking up from his pad of notes as he walked. “No budget, and it’s not essential.”
“Damn!” Luke exclaimed. “I’m sorry, Jyn, I wish there was something I could do. But, this has made me very sad, and sadness is an emotion I do everything in my power to avoid, so if you will excuse me, I’m going to go meditate in the courtyard, for at least an hour.” He abruptly turned, and walked in the other direction.
Jyn continued to follow Cassian and Kay, determined to keep trying.
“Are you sure you couldn’t-“
“No.”
“What if we-“
“No.”
“We could try-“
“Absolutely not.”
“You wouldn’t even consider-“
“You’re really not letting this go, are you?” Cassian eventually snapped, turning to face her.
“Why should I? This is one of the biggest events my department puts on every year. Everything’s practically planned, it gets the community into parks, and we get the performer at a discount because he’s friends with Chirrut.”
“A friend of Chirrut’s?” Kay said, his eye already twitching.
“Yeah, him and Yoda go way back.”
“Absolutely not, then,” Kay said firmly, before storming off.
---
Jyn was still mad the next morning, standing at the back of the crowded community center auditorium with Bodhi, Shara, Kes, and Melshi. They’d accompanied Leia to the town hall where she was announcing the temporary cuts. Which each announcement of reduced hours or closed programs, the crowd at the forum grew more agitated.
“Look, no one is more upset about these closures than I am,” Leia said after one particularly loud grumble. “Not like it’s a competition or anything. Because if it was, I would win. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is-“
“How long is this going to last?” a woman standing near them asked their group in the back.
“Probably forever,” Melshi said, before anyone else could jump in. Jyn hit him in the shoulder.
“With the government shut down,” a man from the audience was now shouting at Leia, “Who’s going to stop al Qaeda?”
“That’s not what we-” Leia started, before another citizen interrupted her.
“School is out in two weeks,” a woman said, standing. “With the parks and community center closed, what am I going to do with my kids all day? Keep them in my house? Where I live?”
“I don’t know what to tell you-“ Leia tried, as another parent stood up.
“What about the kids concert in Amidala Park? You know, the Yoda concert?”
Leia sighed. “I’m sorry, but Yoda has been cancelled.”
More groans, a “You’ve got to be kidding me,” and one surprisingly passionate “Fuck!” rang through the room.
“I can’t believe this,” Shara said, frustrated. “We work our asses off for the city day in and day out, no one cares. They don’t notice, or express any desire for the services we provide, until it’s canceled.”
Jyn straightened up. “Let’s just do the concert anyway.” She turned to her friends. “It’s a service the community obviously wants. We can put it on as volunteers, still have an amazing show, and prove to the consultants that a community needs more than just ‘essential services.’”
“So we’re just doing this to stick it to that new guy you hate?” Melshi asked, suddenly excited.
“No,” Jyn started to say, before noticing Melshi immediately grow disinterested. “I mean, yes. Exactly.”
He perked up. “I’m in!”
-
Baze didn’t even let the barrage of text messages from Jyn telling him she was going rogue with the rest of City Hall ruin his mood, when usually, if he heard of one of her impulsive plans, he’d begrudgingly find her to try and talk her out of it. But he wasn’t letting himself get distracted today. He whistled as he walked down the hall, and into the consultants’ office. “Good morning, gentlemen.”
“Good morning, Mr. Malbus,” Kay said, looking up from his laptop. “You seem to be in an awfully good mood.”
“Cassian and I invited Baze to join us for a preliminary budget review,” Luke explained. “Given his many years working here, and an expressed desire for cuts, we thought his insights would be insightful.”
“We can go more into details,” Baze started, pulling up a chair, “But do be prepared for me to just say, ‘Slash it,” to most things.”
“I do want to ask, Mr. Malbus,” Cassian said, “And I mean this in the most professional way possible…why do you work for the city if you’re so adamant it be reduced?”
“Well, Mr. Andor, I mean this in the most professional way possible, I’m here to try and limit how much this city screws me over.” Luke’s ever-present smile faltered, but Baze continued on. “I’ve lived in Yavin for years. As a Chinese immigrant and a gay man, for most of those years, this government was committed to limiting my rights in every way possible. I don’t care if every damn member of the great Organa political dynasty tells me things have changed. I still don’t trust these people.”
“That’s fair,” Cassian said simply.
“Baze,” Luke began, “I hear where you’re coming from. If you ever want to talk about your feelings-“
“Absolutely not,” he interrupted, switching back to his usual gruffness. “Now, what can we slash?”
“We’re thinking personnel,” Cassian said, turning them back to business. “Non-essential departments like yours can easily be cut to only a single staff member, so for Parks, we’d fire Jyn Erso.”
-
Over at Amidala Park, the concert was starting to come together.
“Good news,” Leia said, coming up to Jyn. “Han’s going to donate a bunch of snacks he had at the bar, so we’re covered for food. He also said he’s ‘bringing reinforcements,’ but didn’t specify what he meant by that.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Jyn said, walking and talking as she carried a stack of folding chairs. “The more hands the better, it’s not like anyone he’d bring could cause more trouble-“ but at that moment she turned to see Han walking up, not alone. “Fuck.”
“Ohhhh, if it isn’t the two hottest ladies in Yavin’s public sector,” the newcomer said.
“Lando,” was all Leia said, before turning to Han. “Why did you bring Lando?”
“Look, princess, if you tell me you desperately need volunteers, I don’t think you get to be picky about who those volunteers are.”
Lando stepped forward. “Mayor Orgasm-a, Er-so Fine, you know I have nothing but respect for you both-“
“Try a pick up line one more time,” Jyn threatened, “I dare you.” She shoved the stack of chairs at Lando and Han, who both stumbled under the sudden weight. “Or, make yourselves useful and help us set up around here.”
-
Baze laughed. “That’s a good one. ‘Fire Jyn.’ I didn’t think you were a funny guy, Andor.” Except Cassian wasn’t laughing, which made Baze stop too. “You’re serious?”
“I know news like this can be hard to process,” Luke tried to reassure him. “But removing extraneous salaries from a budget is one of the easiest ways to bring it into balance.”
“Cut my job instead then. Jyn’s got a lot of years of work ahead of her-”
“Exactly, the city would have to pay her salary longer. And besides, your aversion to expanded city programs will help ensure fiscal responsibility long after we’re gone.”
“When I said I didn’t trust the government, I didn’t mean Jyn. We disagree on things, but at least with her, you know the needs of the community are actually being put first.”
“There’s no need to discuss this anymore,” Cassian said firmly. “Every department is going to lose a Jyn.”
“No, Cassian, they can’t, because no other department has one. She cares so much about the community, she’s out in one of the parks now, singlehandedly putting on the Yoda kids concert.”
“She’s doing what?” the three consultants exclaimed in unison.
-
“Wow,” Bodhi said, looking around the field, at the assembled City Hall staff, volunteers, and almost completed makeshift stage. “I can’t believe we were able to get all of this set up in just a couple of hours.”
“I know,” Jyn replied, in a much better mood now that they were almost done, and Lando and Han had steered clear of her for the past hour. “I can’t believe we got this many volunteers. I wonder how many of them I can get to sign up for next week’s park clean-up…”
But that thought was cut off by Baze’s car screeching into the grass parking lot. He got out quickly, slamming the door, before sprinting towards Jyn and Bodhi. “They’re coming! They’re coming!” He was running so fast, he fell and slid on the grass.
“Baze! Are you okay?” Bodhi asked as everyone rushed towards him.
“They’re coming!” Baze repeated as he got up.
“Who? The Russians?” Han asked.
“No, the consultants. I accidentally told them what you were doing in an attempt to save the department.” He shook his head in disbelief. “It’s been a very strange day for me.”
Luke, Cassian, and Kay were walking across the field now, heading towards their group. “Okay everybody,” Jyn said, “Be cool, be cool.”
“Hey!” Luke said excitedly. “Hey, hello- Bodhi Rook! Hello!”
“Hi, Luke,” Bodhi said uneasily, as Luke climbed on the stage.
“Everyone!” Luke announced to the staff and volunteers, getting their attention. “You are all super amazing. You are what makes Yavin great, and I just want to tell you that I am totally supportive of your inspiring efforts here today! Woo!” He began clapping, and slowly, the crowd joined in. “Alright, yeah! And now my partner Cassian wants to say something!”
The clapping immediately stopped as everyone turned to Cassian. “We’re shutting this down.”
“Damn!” Luke exclaimed. “That’s terrible news. Surely there has to be some solution.”
“No,” Cassian deadpanned.
“Cassian says no,” Luke told the crowd. “Sorry, everyone.”
“The concert is canceled,” Cassian said, louder this time. “We don’t have money in the budget for this.”
“No, here’s the thing, Cassian,” Jyn interrupted, “It’s not canceled. We’re putting it on. Because the stage is already set-up, everything was donated- for free- by local vendors. Everyone here believes what we’re doing is a service to this community. Yoda will sing.”
“Actually, Jyn,” Chirrut interrupted, his phone still in his hand. “Just got a call from Yoda, and uh, how do I put this? He’s not coming.”
Jyn was silent for a beat, before turning back to Cassian. “Fine. Yoda may not sing. But, we’re still here for the community. Something…much cooler will be happening instead. I think.” She turned. “Guys?” And the City Hall employees followed her as they left the consultants behind.
-
“Why isn’t he coming?” Jyn demanded as soon as they were out of earshot from the rest of the crowd.
“Well,” Chirrut said apologetically, “When he heard the concert was canceled the first time, he took a higher paying gig.” He paused, unsure of whether to say the truth next. “In Naboo.” The group groaned. “At a public library.” Everyone’s disgust grew louder.
“That’s the worst place possible,” Melshi said with a grimace.
“Okay then, so we need another musical act. Han! Lando!” Jyn snapped. “We all remember that garage band you two tried to start-”
“No,” Shara interrupted, as Kes and Bodhi also interjected, “Please don’t do this.”
“We’re not that desperate,” Leia insisted.
Han looked hurt, but even if he was genuine, because it was Han, it still looked sarcastic. “I can’t believe my friends and my lover would think so low of my musical talent.” He turned to Jyn. “But, Erso, even if we are your only hope for this shindig, a kids concert isn’t really up me and Lando’s alley. The last song we wrote was called ‘Sex Hair.’”
“Just change every time you say ‘sex’ to something kid-appropriate. Like, I don’t know, ‘pickle,’ kids think random words are funny.’”
“That could work, that could work,” Lando said, before clapping out a beat as he and Han began to sing.
“You got pickle hair, baaaaaby, and you got it from me.”
The group shook their heads. “Still sounds like it’s about sex,” Bodhi sighed.
“Look, it’s a free kids concert,” Leia said. “How hard can it be? Someone just go up there and sing a nursery rhyme. They’re kids, they won’t care how it sounds.”
“Leia, none of us know anything about kids!” Shara said.
As Shara and Leia argued back and forth about how hard it could really be, Jyn felt like ripping her hair out. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
-
When the group split to try and figure out a new plan, Chirrut decided his next course of action would be to acquire himself a snack. He made his way towards the food tent, before hearing a long stride join in walking next to him. “Kay Tuesso,” he said before the newcomer could speak. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“How did you-“ Kay started to ask, confused how the blind man was able to recognize him. “Doesn’t matter. I just wanted to ask you a few follow-up questions, regarding what you said the other day. About me dying soon. Now, I know that’s not only illogical, but impossible-“
“How can you be so sure?” Chirrut asked with a smile. “You may have a lot of control in this town, but even you don’t have control over the forces of the universe.”
“But you see, I am a specimen of perfect health. I’ve run 10 miles a day, every day, for ten years. That’s 15% of the way to the Moon. I am going to run to the Moon. My health is fantastic, there’s no way anything will happen to me soon.”
“If I remember correctly, I only said that you would die in Yavin. I didn’t say when. Perhaps you will be in our town longer than you think.”
“That can’t be. I will be returning to Coruscant as soon as my contract allows. I need the city. There’s not a single cold-pressed juice bar in Yavin. When I asked, no one even knew what that was!”
“Kay, I spent many years traveling. If you had told a younger me that I’d one day end up living in a town like Yavin, I never would have believed you. But we found a community, a family, here, and decided, why not settle down? Then one day I looked up, and I’d been here forty years.”
“That sounds awful.”
Chirrut shrugged. “There are worse fates.”
-
Luke, looking for an excuse to talk to Bodhi, went over and asked him, “What’s the big deal about this Yoda guy, anyway?”
Bodhi groaned. “Typical Yavin weirdness. No one knows his real name, but he goes by Yoda. When he talks he just flips the syntax, no one knows if it’s on purpose or not. Also, he paints himself green, again, no one knows why. He’s a weird little creep, but a weird little creep the local kids can’t get enough of, so he makes money doing songs at birthday parties and stuff.”
“And he’s a friend of Chirrut’s?”
“Yeah, they met in the cult Chirrut and Baze were in back in the 70’s.”
“A cult?”
“Longer, weirder Yavin story. Baze got out pretty quickly, and refuses to talk about it. I think Chirrut and Yoda are the only ones left, so if they say anything to you about something they call ‘the Force,’ just know you’re in for an earful.”
“Sounds interesting, though,” Luke admitted. “What if I want to learn more about the Force?”
“Trust me,” Bodhi insisted, “You don’t.”
---
Just off-stage, Jyn tried to stop Leia one last time. “Leia, I can’t let you do this. You’re going to embarrass yourself royally, then no one will vote for you ever again, Kay will somehow become mayor, then we’ll all lose our jobs and die.”
“Everything will be fine,” Leia insisted. “Besides, no one would dare run against an Organa in this town.”
“That’s true,” Jyn admitted, but still, she watched anxiously as her friend made her way up the stage.
“Hi-ya, kids!” Leia said in an overly cheery voice. (“They hate her,” Shara observed, looking at the crowd of kids’ unamused faces.) “Yoda can’t make it today, but he wanted me to come instead!” She smiled, as if waiting for a response from the audience. There was none. “Uh, okay then.” She cleared her throat, before she began to sing. “’If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!’” In the entire crowd, only Luke clapped. Not a great start. Still, Leia marched on. “’If you’re happy and you know it-“
“Hands, you clap!” another voice chimed in, as a small old man, painted green and carrying a guitar, rushed on stage.
“Yoda?” Leia half-announced, half-asked in shock. The crowd of kids screamed.
The old man emitted a noise that could only be describe as a giggle. “Me, it is. But prepare for the show, I must. Five more minutes, we will begin.” He then herded Leia off-stage, following, before beginning to plug his microphone and guitar into the sound equipment.
“Yoda!” Jyn said angrily, as she rushed over. “Where the hell were you? You told Chirrut you took a gig in Naboo.”
“Hrmmm. I did. About to go on, I was. But all about the money, I am. And showed up and made me a much better offer, this guy did.” And he pointed at, of all people, Cassian.
Jyn didn’t believe it. “You did this?” she asked, walking over to him.
“I’m not a monster,” he explained defensively. “I want the kids to have their concert. I just didn’t want the city to pay for it.”
“Well, consider me shocked. Now we know Mean Cassian has a soft side.”
“Is that what everyone calls me? ‘Mean Cassian?’”
“No,” she says, smiling at him for the first time. She doesn’t know why she notes that, why her brain decides this is an important moment for her to keep. But he smiles back.
The moment was ruined, though, by Cassian clearing his throat and saying, “You do realize, though, that this is an exception? I can’t let the Parks department continue operating without limits- “
“I know, but that can be a problem for tomorrow. For now, just take satisfaction in knowing that for once you provided a service, not a cut.”
“Fine. But the real service was getting Leia to stop singing.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
---
On stage, the songs Yoda sang could barely be recognized, given how much he flipped the lyrics around. But the kids of Yavin seemed to love it, excitedly dancing and singing along.
“Toes, shoulder, knees and head, knees and head! Toes, shoulder, knees and head! Knees and head!”
“I think I can say with confidence that this is the most interesting town we’ve been to yet!” Luke exclaimed once he, Cassian, and Kay were standing together, watching the community members enjoying the concert and the park.
“Interesting is one way of describing it,” Cassian admitted.
“Stop calling it interesting, this place is unnerving,” Kay insisted. “Something odd is happening here.”
“Did they tell you about the cult, too?” Luke asked innocently.
Kay shook his head. “No. But, further proves my point. I know you two didn’t like my idea originally, but I think now you can agree we have no choice. Until we can finish our plan outlining how Yavin can be reformed, we need to shut down the city government. Just look at today, one kids concert got canceled and the entirety of City Hall went rogue. Who even got the green guy to come back anyway?”
“No idea,” Cassian said evenly. “But, if you think shutting down City Hall’s the most efficient way to do this, then I say we go for it.” They looked to Luke.
He sighed. “Fine. But don’t make me be the one to deliver the bad news.”
“Yeah, because we make you do that so often,” Kay said drily, as pulled out his phone and began drafting an email to go to every city employee in Yavin.