Ducem Mortis | The Mandalorian

VIII

I woke up with sore muscles. Maybe I shouldn't have slept on a workbench, but I surely didn't want to be in the same room with the Mandalorian. Not after last night.

I'm just tired. Mentally, physically, and emotionally. I was relieved from my thoughts when I heard the child make noises from his hammock. I walked over to the hammock to see him rubbing his eyes, once he was done and noticed me in front of him and started to coo, reaching out for me. I took the child in my hands and I walked over to where the ladder was that led to the cockpit.

I honestly didn't want to go up there. The child looked up at me noticing that I wasn't making the advance up the ladder. "Sorry," I muttered as I tucked the child safely into my arms before ascending up the ladder. Once we were up to the top I set the child down letting him walk on the floor. I saw him walking in a straight line forward, following him with my eyes I realized that he was walking towards the Mandalorian.

They truly did have a bond.

The Mandalorian noticed the child and picked him up, before sitting him in his lap. My eyes softened up at the moment they shared before I looked at the floor. "Where are we going?" I asked as I walked closer but still far enough to where I couldn't reach the pair. "I have a mission, for us." The Mandalorian spoke as he still faced the front.

"And the child. We don't exactly have babysitting services anymore." I said as the Mandalorian turned to face me from his seat. "I'll put him in the compartment he sleeps in." I nodded my head before leaning against the side walls of the ship. Before I took my gaze off of the Mandalorian I noticed him getting up and putting the child in his seat.

I didn't watch him as he walked towards me. The sound of his steps was enough for me to clarify that he was in fact coming towards me. "The place we are going, the things you might hear.....I didn't do them anymore." I nodded my head at his words, still not raising my head to look at him.

"I need you to trust me." My eyes widen at the mention of word 'trust' coming from his mouth. Before I could even criticize him for being hypocritical I felt his finger tips on my chip, pulling it up as he spoke again. "I know trust goes both ways. I'm willing it give it a try, if you are."

I could hear my heart thump in my ears. His hold on my chin was still present, keeping me from looking anywhere else but at him. I slightly opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. He had rendered me speechless. This was the last thing I expected to hear from him today.

"Okay," I spoke so quietly that if he wasn't as close as he was to me he wouldn't have heard it. I felt him lightly rubbed his thumb against my chin before letting go and walking back towards the controls.

I stayed still leaning against the wall as I tried to comprehend what just happened. I brought a hand up to my cheek to feel that it was indeed hot. "We're going to be landing soon. You might want to strap down."

~

Once we landed I made sure to put the child away, where nobody could see him. When we walked out the ship and into the hangar I saw beings of all different sorts around. The Mandalorian looked to have knew where he was going causing me to linger behind him. "Mando. Is that you under that bucket?" An older man with long grayish hair called from ahead of us.

"Ran," the Mandalorian replied with as he shook his hand. "I didn't really know if I'd see you in these parts again. Good to see you." Ran said to the man covered in beskar before he turned to me. "I see you brought a friend," Ran spoke while he scanned me up and down. "Nice katana." He pointed out to which I nodded in appreciation. "How much you want for it?" I small smile made it way onto my face as I shook my head from side to side. "It's not for sell. It wouldn't do you good anyways."