Clan of Three

Part Twenty-Seven

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It was dark by the time the trio reached the port. They ditched the speeder and headed back towards the inn. Neither Din more Rael said a word the entire way back, but now the silence was getting to be too much for the Jedi. "Din... I know that you don't want anything to do with them, but please. She's the only link to my family. I have to talk to her.", Rael said quietly while grabbing the man's arm to make him stop. Surprisingly, Din didn't pull his arm free like she had expected.

He let out a sigh as he turned to look at her like he was going to say something, but someone called out to them. "Hey! You two. You killed by brother." A quarren said as he stepped out of the shadows of some crates. Din twisted his arm in Rael's hand so he could grab her arm as well and pull her behind him a bit. "Let us pass.", he demanded and handed the child to Rael.

The quarren chuckled as he was joined by about eight more of his brothers and said, "I don't think you understand. You killed my brother." The quarren walked forward with his blaster aimed at Rael and the kid. "And now I'm gonna kill your woman and your pet." he continued with as he took another step forward. But his threats were interrupted by three Mandalorians landing beside Din and Rael.

"They didn't kill your brother, I did." Bo-katan taunted. In less than a second, the quarrens and Mandalorains had drawn their blasters and fired. Rael held the child close to her chest as she threw out a hand, deflecting any blaster bolts that came near them. The shoot-out was over as fast as it started with all the quarrens on the ground. The child poked Rael's cheek and cooed at her as she scanned their surroundings for anymore attackers.

"Can we at least buy you a drink?", Bo-katan asked Din before glancing at Rael. The Jedi looked to Din to see what he was going to decide and found him already looking at her. She gave him a pleading look and the man sighed before nodding at the others.

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Rael sat with the child in between her and Din and Bo-katan to her right. The girl was doing her best to keep her eyes focused on her bowl of chowder so she wouldn't openly stare at the woman as she talked. "Trask is a black market port. They're staging weapons that have been bought and sold with plunders of our planet. We're seizing those weapons and using them to retake our home world. Once we've done that, we'll seat a new Mandalore on the throne." Bo-katan explained.

Din shook his head and said, "That planet is cursed. Anyone who goes there, dies. Once the Empire knew they couldn't control it, they made sure no one else could either." Bo-katan smirked as she replied, "Don't believe everything you hear. Our enemies wanna separate us. But Mandalorians are stronger together." Din looked at Rael, then down at the kid before saying, "That's not part of my plan. I've been quested with returning them to their people. The Jedi."

Rael felt her cheeks heat up as the other female and male Mandalorains looked at her. "What do you know of the Jedi?", Bo-katan asked as she leaned forward, studying both Din and Rael with careful eyes. "Not much. I was hoping you'd hep me by Creed. There's bounty hunters at every turn and we're still trying to find her friends." Din replied. The unmasked Mandalorians all shared looks before Bo-katan leaned back in her seat as she said, "I can lead you to one of their kind. But first, we need your help on a mission. I'll tell you more after I talk to her. Alone."

Rael finally looked up on hearing the condition, only to find Din and Bo-katan in a stare-off. "T-that's fine.", Rael forced out as she stood up. Bo-katan stood up, holding her helmet, and headed for the door. Rael pinched the kid's cheek as he reached for her. "I'll be back soon." she told her quietly. As she readjusted her cloak, she looked down at Din. She didn't need to be Force-sensitive to sense worry and tension coming from the man. "I'm not kidnapping her. We'll be right outside." Bo-katan called from the doorway. Rael gave him reassuring smile before following the woman outside.

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Bo-katan led them to the end of the port and she set her helmet on a crate next to her. Rael leaned against the railing and looked out at the endless ocean. The older woman leaned next to her as Rael wore dup the courage to ask the question that had been burning in her mind since she first heard the woman's name. "A-are you... are you my great aunt?", The Jedi asked hesitantly. The older woman furrowed her brows, but looked at her with a small smile. "There's no way you remember me. You could barley walk the last time I saw you."

Rael felt her heart leap at the confirmation of her hopeful suspicion. "So you are my great aunt?", She asked with more confidence and a smile on her face. "Let's just leave at aunt, kid. The great really shows my age. But really, how did you know? I thought I was going to have to give this long explanation." Bo-katan quipped as she studied the girl's face. "My grandfather told me in a vision. He said that when my parents were killed, you delivered me to him on Tatooine... But he wouldn't tell me her name...", Rael replied.

"You look so much like her...", she said quietly and gently brushed a gloved hand over one of Rael's cheeks. "She was my big sister. By quite a few years actually. Her name was Satine and she was the last ruler of Mandalore." Rael smiled at hearing her grandmother's name for the first time. "But, just like your father, your eyes are from that pesky Jedi. Did he tell you that I didn't like him much?", Her aunt asked with a smirk. Rael shook her head with a bit sadness creeping into her eyes, but Bo-katan waved her off.

"Just because I never liked him doesn't mean I didn't respect him. He loved Satine and Korkie. Kenobi always did what he could for them. And he raised you, didn't he? Can't hate him too much." The older woman said with a wink. This made the girl laugh a bit as she looked back out at the waves. "So, tell me how the hell you ended up running with a Child of the Watch and that little green thing.", Bo-katan said as she crossed her arms.

Rael shifted to have her back leaning against the railing as she said, "It's kind of a long story." The Mandalorian hopped up on the crate next to her helmet and said, "I told Woves and Reeves to to give us some time to talk. They'll keep him in the inn." Rael sighed, "He won't let that go on long." Bo-katan shrugged and said, "Better get talking then."

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A/N
Next chapter coming out tomorrow!
- hawkins_2000