The Force Won't Save You (Lesbian Story)

Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

-TWO YEARS LATER-

The Inner Rim planet Birren had become their home. Their Alderaanian neighbors had welcomed them with open arms, unaware that both women had committed heinous atrocities against their people during the war. But, neither were going to admit to any wrongdoing. They were simply just trying to survive on their own.

Briar moved through the open market with a fervor, trying to get to the caf stand before Maliek ran out of Trilla's favorite caf flavor. She was close to shoving a particularly slow moving man out of the way when she locked eyes with Maliek in front of her. He was grinning at her, having caught her in her desperate state.

"Lex [Briar]! How are you doing on this fine morning? You seem to be in a hurry!" Maliek was speaking to her as she continued to push forward, her black cloak billowing behind her as she chuckled at the large man with an unmatched talent for making amazing tasting caf. She lowered her hood, running her fingers through her short hair.

"Maliek, so nice to see your smiling face. You know, I wouldn't be in such a hurry if you didn't sell out of Vormur flower flavored caf so quickly. Maybe save me some running and make a bigger batch next time?" Briar teased, the man letting out a full belly laugh. He grabbed onto his beer gut as he laughed, shaking his head at the small woman across from him.

Briar and Trilla had met Maliek two weeks into their stay on Birren, taking a liking to the pair once Trilla had almost punched a man for looking at her wrong. Since then, their weekly encounters have always been so pleasant and welcome.

Maliek was an older man, married to his wife for over 40 years. Briar and Trilla had been invited over to their home for several dinners, but had always declined on account of them not wanting to be out and about longer than they needed to be. The two were overly cautious, but in their minds, they had every right to be.

Maliek was glancing around his stall, seemingly looking for something. "It's crazy that you mention that specific flavor, because..." He bent down, producing a woven sack with the top tied off. "... there seems to be one more bag here." The man was wearing a sly smile as Briar glanced down at the bag, a small note fastened to the top reading 'For Cassia [Trilla].'

Briar's heart melted, her hand covering her chest. "And here I thought you were just a caf merchant! You are also a sweetheart." She complimented, Maliek's cheeks reddening as he also grabbed her regular three chocolate cakes in her order.

"Yes, well, not many seem to appreciate caf as you do. My offer of dinner still stands; Nova would love to host you both."

Briar pulled her credit pouch from her waist, getting out the exact amount of credits she'd need. She thought it over. It would be nice to socialize with people; even if those people were three times her age. Plus, it'd been two years of solitude.

"We'd love to, Maliek. We can come tonight."

An excited squeal left the man as he set the woven sack with her order in front of her. "Nova will be so excited to hear this news! See you later, Lex [Briar]."

She walked away from the stall with a smile on her face as she pulled her hood back up, starting the walk along the dirt road back to their little suburb of the city. Briar walked past several other stalls with children's toys and candy, keeping her head low as the merchants attempted to call her towards their wares.

It was still early in the morning, her body growing tired from lack of caf. She hadn't even drank water this morning, just rushed out of their hut before Trilla had even awoken. The walk was much easier after she'd turned down the main road and past the city gates, the dirt road softening from lack of use as she continued on.