Untangle the Lies, You Must

10~He Called Me Mando

I should have anticipated Obiwan's reaction but I didn't. He was in shock. He knew the name Kallus. I know he did. He was an Imperial that helped the Rebels before and they thought he was killed, when he really got stuck under Darth Vader's command only a few paces below the top of the pyramid. He couldn't do anything without Vader knowing about it until I came along and he saw his opportunity. Obiwan's mind stopped reeling and he finally looked at me with his eyebrows in a thin line. "You were the one he referred to as Mando."

Han, not missing the nickname Kallus had called me, huffed and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Mandalorian? I can see it." Chewie nodded. I wasn't sure if Han meant that as an insult or honestly meant it. I rolled my eyes at him, not giving my strength into making that decision.

It was the way Luke was looking at Obiwan that ground my thoughts to a sudden halt.

Luke's head was turned toward him. His eyes were narrowed and his eyebrows were knit. I had to stop myself from thinking that expression was cute... Again. He was studying Obiwan like he was a broken piece of equipment that needed fixing imminently. In this moment, it looked like he wanted to fix, or understand, Obiwan.

Obiwan noticed Luke was looking at him when he noticed my green eyes flicking between the two. He breathed out deeply and shook his head. "It makes perfect sense, now."

Han and I spoke in unison, "What does?" We never even exchanged glances.

Obiwan sighed, "He said, in his report and files, that someone smuggled him out when they left the Empire, he helped them escape and they helped him hide and get to the rebels. He said it was a friend with a very honed set of skills that the Empire would miss from under their thumb after ripening it with their training. He called you Mando. You fit that description, Eliza. You came back with skills I knew you had to of been trained or taught or something. I just never questioned it because I knew who you are."

Luke did not look pleased by Obiwan's answer and intense blue gaze but Luke looked toward me with questioning and scrutiny in his gaze. Whatever Luke had picked up on, had thrown his ground from under his feet and he was doing a double take. He seemed satisfied with my end and looked back at Obiwan. "By the way," I held up a finger, "that's probably why you never get told stuff. You don't ask questions."

He shrugged as my hand lowered. His retort to my point was smooth. Almost too smooth. "You wouldn't have told me any of that." Han and Chewie had both gone silent during this exchange. "So, I observed. I trained you a little, yes, but I know you can knock my own feet out from under me with a lot of effort from our old fighting sessions. Knocking a Jedi off his feet, even with a lot of effort, is not a very casual feat. But I wasn't about to ask who or where or why you had gotten so good at combat. Which, while we are on this topic about me asking questions, why did you let yourself be trained like an assassin by the Empire?"

Chewbacca gave a growl of defense toward me as Obiwan's face turned stoic. Han placed a hand on Chewie's wrist and implored that I continue. "Because, I would use those skills against the Empire and it passed the time. And, look who I met and what happened. I got him free from the Empire."

Obiwan rolled his eyes. The longer Luke studied him, the more agitated he grew. "So, your ship, it's fast?"

He had changed the subject. I would have made a remark about him changing the subject this time but it was rare when Obiwan wanted to escape a topic, even rarer when he's getting to the bottom of my case. I relaxed into my chair as my thoughts continued to run with him pushing forward into new conversation. I also made a mental note to thank Luke.

Agent Kallus was brilliant. He had waited a long time for the moment when he could escape the Empire and I was the perfect opportunity. It was his time. I smuggled him in the cargo hold of a stolen freighter to Mandalore and I helped him obtain his own ship by pulling favors. I was fluent enough in the Mandalorian language to earn trust, even if it was just a slither, with some bounty hunters I had met on good terms while others wanted my head and I had been on Mandalore multiple times without Han. Being with Han Solo was not exactly good fame but on my own, I was better at being likable by masses. Kallus and I parted ways after an exchanging of thanks and I got a ride to Tatooine from an old friend.