Star Girl | Din Djarin

00 | mother

MANDALORE, OUTER RIM

Besides the distant sounds of blaster bolts meeting Beskar armour all the five year old can hear is the laboured breathing of her mother as she holds her tightly to her body. Hidden beneath a dull purple cloak her small hands grip around her mother's fragile neck.

'Mama.'

'Hush.' A hand is placed on her head, pushing her into the crook of her neck as she pauses at a stairway. It's silent, the blasters have stopped. But then a loud boom rings out and her mother begins her quick paced journey again.

'Mama...'

She grips her tighter, shoving her head into her neck to try and silence her impatience whines. 'We're almost there, star. Just a few more moments.'

'I'm tired.'

'As am I.'

Her words are accompanied with a tired sigh. The doors burst open with her harsh push, she surveys the roof of the building before setting her daughter down. Never once removing her touch form her as she keeps her close with one hand clutched in her own.

'You weren't followed?'

'No, ma'am.'

'You are sure.'

The man before her nods once. The young girl just tilts her head at him, he has dark hair, and armour not quite like the ones of other Mandalorians. He flashes a quick smile in acknowledgment when his eyes lands on her, but his gaze is set when he faces the Duchess again. The face of a soldier.

'Duchess, we don't have much time.' The man tells her.

Satine kneels, her hands cup her daughter's chubby cheeks and forces her gaze away from the stranger. 'You must be brave, star.'

'Mother-'

'No, listen to me,' She tells her and forces her gaze away once more, 'Once this is over you will be the last of pure Mandalorian blood. The heir to the troubled throne. No matter how you may be tempted to come back, do not. Never come back here. Escape, build a life somewhere,, do not come back to Mandalore.'

Her small brows furrow, 'But you're here, mother.'

'I will not be.'

'Mother?'

'You have a gift, Saviin. Your dreams, they may come true-' The girl's eyes fill with tears the moment she hears it. Her dreams and visions of her mother falling dead at her father's feet, skin a few shades paler but robes darkened by blood flash before her eyes.

'I thought if I kept you from your father you would not inherit it, but it seems you still have.'

'If I stay you will die?'

'No.' Satine shakes her head, 'It's been my destiny since you saw it. A path I can no longer run from. Yours is yet to be paved, survive, hide and survive and then-' She moves some hair out of her face to hold her cheeks better, she wants to see her better, wants to see those eyes that belong to her husband, 'Then, you may choose your own fate.'

She leans back and takes the long silver chain from around her neck hanging it around her smaller frame. 'I'll always be with you. As will the Force.'

'Mother.'

'I love you, ad'ika.'

Satine kisses her forehead then stands and retreats back to the stairs. Saviin leaps forward yet the strong arm of the soldier prevents her from moving. 'No!'

'Let's get moving, kid.'

'No! No, mother!'

He hauls her over his shoulder and onto the ship, strapping her down in the chair besides his as he and another man who looks identical to him pilot's them away from the destruction below.

'Where are you taking me?'

'Ever heard of Ithor?'

'I do not want to go.'

'There's a lovely family waiting on a child of their own.'

'They're not my family.'

He sighs and glances at her over his shoulder. 'When the war is over I'll come and find you. I'll take you back to Coruscant, to Naboo, wherever you want to go.'

'I want to go home. To Mandalore.'

'Mandalore is no more. None of us can go home.'

He doesn't say anything else. And the girl is forced to sit in silence for the rest of the flight to their destination.

When they arrive as promised a man and woman stand as they await the promise of their first child. They stand with identical smiles, one with hair so blonde it mirrors the planet's sun, another his hair so dark it looks like the night sky. Their arms are linked, they're in their best robes, which to the daughter of a duchess looks like nothing.

She doesn't let go of the man's hand when he stops in front of them. He sighs, 'Saviin, you must let go.'

'No. Take me with you. I can help.'

He glances to the few paces away where her adoptive parents wait for her. Then he kneels to the ground and pulls off his helmet to set it beside himself on the grass.

'These people will take care of you.'

'No they will not.'

'They will. You're their foundling now.'

She shakes her head, 'By the Mandalorian way one who is orphaned-'

'Just like your mother,' The man says with a smile, and then after a long pause he adds, 'And your father. Both devoted to their ways. You get your stubbornness from them.'

'Take me home.' The final request is desperate. She knows he will not go against his promise to her mother. She is just a child. No one listens to her. Her aunt didn't when she asked her to stay, her mother didn't when she revealed her troubling dreams. This soldier who is devoted to the cause won't either.

Her adoptive father steps forward, 'Saviin-'

His hand, gentle yet not as loving as her mother's, clasps over her shoulder. 'Saviin, you must let him go.'

'No.'

He looks up at the man, then back at her. 'When the war is over I shall return. I'll live here.'

'I want you to take me with you. Not stay here.'

He unclips the small badge that is attached to his armour and hands it over to her, she squeezes it in her palm. It's a small yellow jewel with his rank and CT number beside it. 'Your father gave me that. It's my most prized possession. I shall return for you to get that back from you in a few years.'

When she's distracted reading over his number, cmd. CT-2224, he takes his leave. She knows he's gone, she feels the warmth of his presence leave. Yet she still fights to break from her new father's grip to chase through the jungle after their ship in the sky.

Somewhere along the way she drops his badge, his reason to return lost. She briefly glances over her shoulder, the small farm house no longer visible, nor the town she could see as they landed.

'Cody!' With a strangled yell of his name, one last attempt to reach him, she falls to her knees. Watching a twinkle appear in the sky as the ship disappears.

Her head hangs low, hair covering her face, not noticing the shadow of the ship that looms over her above.

'Saviin.'

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