So I’m writing a Star Wars fic and there’s this guy, Com. Com makes a promise to a dying Twi’lek woman that he will find her daughter a safe home. Unfortunately this promise coincides with him revealing himself to be an ex-convict wanted for breaking parole, which means he now has the Empire after him. He visits the people the woman is paying to care for her daughter, the Tarkays, a Weequay couple who run a hostel cantina. The daughter’s name is Leela. The Tarkays attempt to scam Com but he simply gives them 15,000 credits and goes to get Leela. Realizing he’s much richer than they thought, the Tarkays try to extort more money from him, but he leaves too quickly, taking Leela with him. Leela lets Com know the Tarkays were abusive guardians and Com promises things will be different now that he is her father. He explains to her that he is on the run from the Empire. They move to the Core world of Pasir to start a new life for both of them. Fast forward eight years and Leela is eighteen. Leela and Com frequent a park near their apartment, where a boy notices Leela and becomes attracted to her. Leela develops a reciprocal attraction, but the two never approach each other. The boy’s name is Apollon, and he’s a student at the Imperial university on Pasir. He’s also part of a club with rebel sympathies. One day Apollon decides to sketch her. Leela notices and coyly poses for him, but a stormtrooper interrupts him and asks what he’s drawing, to which Apollon responds by pointing. Com thinks Apollon is an Imperial spy and makes a hasty retreat with Leela. Apollon despairs that they’ll never meet again. Fast forward a few months later, Apollon’s neighbor Portia Banquo visits to beg for money. Portia is Apollon’s best friend. Apollon gives her money and Portia, who has feelings for him, stays for longer than necessary, though Apollon is too distracted by schoolwork and thoughts of Leela to take much notice of her. Portia writes “Look out! Imperials!” in Huttese on one of Apollon’s flash cards to demonstrate that although she’s never been to school, she still has some useful skills. But she leaves when she realizes their small talk is one-sided. A philanthropist comes to visit the Banquos. Apollon sees them walking up the street and recognizes them as Leela and Com. He listens in on their visit with the Banquos and learns their names. Com promises to bring money tomorrow. When he and Leela leave, Apollon goes next door and asks Portia to find Leela’s address. Portia unhappily agrees. Apollon then overhears her parents plotting to hold Com hostage and extort him as payback for taking Leela. Apollon goes to the police, who tell him to fire his blaster out his window to signal them to come in and arrest the Banquos. Banquo sends Portia to watch for stormtroopers. He then ambushes Com when he walks in and ties him up. Banquo reveals he is Tarkay. Apollon is shocked because he owes a debt to Tarkay for saving his father in the Clone Wars. The Tarkays Force an address out of Com so they can hold Leela hostage and force him to pay 20,000 credits, but Apollon recognizes it as a fake. Tarkay’s wife goes to find the fake address, and Com escapes by the time she returns empty-handed, Com has freed himself. When the scuffle ensues, Apollon panics and fires as instructed, only to think Com might be arrested as well. He takes the card Portia wrote on, drops it at the Tarkays’ door, knocks, and bolts. When he reaches the ground floor and rushes outside, he and the police chief see Com escape through a window and run. Apollon leaves. Portia has followed her mother to the fake address and back and then followed Com. She has found out where Leela lives. Apollon finds her and confronts her about her true identity, but once they reconcile, learning in the process that Tarkay most likely did not save his father’s life as Apollon believes, Portia takes him to Leela’s house. I need a way for Apollon to gain Leela’s trust. She still thinks he’s a spy at this point and showing up to her house with one of her enemies doesn’t help. I need a way for Apollon to prove himself. I also need for Leela’s and Apollon’s relationship to be kept secret; Com can know she is seeing someone, but not know it’s the boy from the park he thinks is a spy. He’ll find out later.
Actually, I have an idea. Apollon can reveal himself and explain everything, including that he was the one who saved Com from the Tarkays. Com will forbid him to see Leela when he learns he is a rebel, since Com doesn’t want his daughter mixed up in it. However, Leela will see him anyway, having learned he is not a spy and reciprocates her feelings.
The influence from Les Mis is clearly very strong here. In that story, Cossette doesn't really have a reason to trust Marius other than young love and the letters he leaves for her. Are you after something more substantial, like a grand gesture?
No, actually, I figured it out. Apollon goes up, explains to Com that he's not a spy and that he saved him from the Tarkays, at which point Com allows him to see Leela. Apollon takes Leela on a few dates, but when Com finds out those dates take place at a rebel cantina, he forbids them to see each other because he doesn't want Leela mixed up in the Rebellion. He has no love for it himself, since the Rebellion wants to restore the Republic and Republic law put him in prison, and in his eyes is almost as bad as the Empire. Anyway, I wouldn't need a reason for Leela to trust him, except for the fact that the misunderstanding causes her and Com to think Apollon is an Imperial spy (as shown when he points them out to a stormtrooper while sketching them-- that looks very sketchy if you don't happen to overhear their conversation. It doesn't help that Apollon and the trooper give chase, although Apollon didn't intend for the trooper to join him.) And yeah, this story is based on Les Mis. I thought about how Han Solo's Legends backstory is an adaptation of Oliver Twist and thought, "We need more Star Wars stories based on classic literature."
