When I woke up, the lights in the cargo bay were on, and I had to squint for a few moments until my eyes adjusted. I was laying on my side, the still sleeping child tucked securely under my arm. But the soothing heat that was behind me the night before was gone, as well as the pile of shining beskar.
"Din?" I called, still half asleep.
"Up here," He replied, his modulated voice floating down from the cockpit.
I glanced down as the child stirred under my arm, slowly blinking away his sleepy haze. I smiled at him when he looked up at me, gently flicking his nose as I said, "Good morning to you, too."
"Actually," Din said as he dropped down from the cockpit, startling both of us, "It's afternoon."
"What?" I snapped in disbelief, my brows creasing as I watched him. "How long was I asleep?"
Din chuckled as he approached us, reaching out to massage the child's ear between his fingers. "At least twelve hours," He answered nonchalantly as he flicked his gaze to my face.
My eyes widened. Twelve hours?! I knew I was exhausted, but I couldn't remember the last time I got more than six consecutive hours of sleep, let alone twelve.
"How long did you sleep?" I asked suspiciously, blinking against the light as I sat up straight and pulled the child into my lap.
He chuckled again. Then he said, leaning closer to me, "A lot longer than I usually do."
My mind immediately flicked back to when he soothed me as he gave me the bacta injection on Tatooine. He told me he rarely slept because he was always plagued by nightmares in an attempt to distract me from my crippling fear of needles.
Din's throat bobbed as he swallowed, and I had the feeling that he knew exactly what I was thinking about.
"No," He admitted happily after a moment, sensing that I was about to ask him about his nightmares, "I didn't have a single one."
I smiled sweetly at him, reaching up to press a kiss to his helmet. "I'm glad," I responded while trying to stifle a yawn.
But my glazed and content mood began to shift when Din breathed out a long sigh. My head tilted to the side as I asked, "What's wrong?"
"Greef Karga sent us a transmission."
My brows narrowed again as he reached for the child, taking him back to his compartment and closing the door.
I lifted myself off the bench, and the chill of the floor stung my bare feet. Then I walked up to him, placing my hands on his stiff shoulders to massage the stiffness away. I asked nervously, "What does he want?"
Din exhaled another heavy breath, resting one of his gloved hands on my own. Then he turned to face me, lacing his fingers with mine as he said, "He wants me to come back to Nevarro. He thinks using me and the child as bait will help draw the Imps out."
I swallowed harshly, thinking of how many ways that plan could go wrong. It made me shiver.
"There's no way it's not a trap," I warned him.
"I know," He breathed, leaning his head closer to mine. "But he doesn't know you're with me."
I smiled weakly, flattered by the fact that he thought I was going to make all the difference. But the Empire was hunting me too, and there was no way the Imps didn't know I was with Din. Karga may not know, but I had no doubt Moff Gideon did.
"We're not enough," I sighed defeatedly, glancing at my armor that was nearly piled beside the bench. "Are you sure going back there is a good idea?"
"It's not," He replied immediately, squeezing my hand, "But we have no choice. Getting rid of them is the only way to keep us safe."
Us. Me, him, and the kid.
The fact that Din wanted me to be his wife was still so new to me. But every time it crossed my mind, pure happiness swelled in my heart.
Jeyna Ryn-Djarin. Now that was a name I could get used too.
"We'll need backup if we're gonna do this," I said, wracking my brain for anyone we could trust.
I eventually thought of the Dropper we met on Sorgan. Her built frame, impeccable aim, and powerhouse attitude was something we could definitely use if we were walking into this trap.
And apparently, so did Din, because after a few beats of silence he said, "I think it's time we went back to Sorgan."
I smiled up at him again. "Agreed."
———————————————————————
Well, it seemed Cara had kept up her fighting since we left. Din and I had landed on Sorgan about an hour ago, and when we walked up to the cantina to try and find Cara, she was already fighting a huge man, attached by an energy beam at the hip.
I mean, Cara was definitely big enough to intimidate people larger than her. But this guy? He was pushing the limit.
My heart fluttered nervously when he landed a big punch to her gut. Cara doubled over, stumbling back a few steps before regaining her balance and righted herself. I leaned my head to the side, whispering to Din, "What is she thinking?"
But even though Din's helmet was covering his face, I knew there was a large smirk plastered on his lips. "She knows what she's doing," He replied proudly, and his tone kind of irked me.
I turned my attention back to the fight, where Cara and her opponent traded large blows. When one of them landed a big hit, the other would hit back even harder. The fight was brutal, but the crowd that had gathered was loving it. They passed money around, loudly taking bets on who was going to win.
The fight was getting to its culmination. As Cara circled her opponent, a wickedly dangerous smirk on her face, she wrapped her hands around the beam that connected them and began to pull the brute towards her. The muscles in her arms bulged as the man resisted, but she eventually pulled him close enough that she could lunge forward and wrap the energy beam around the his neck. He sputtered and choked for a few moments, his eyes bulging out of his head before he vigorously tapped Cara's forearm.
She had won.
"Yes!" She exclaimed, releasing the beam around the mans neck. Then she held out her hands to the crowd, and people began dropping credits into her palms.
"Thank you, thank you, come back again," She crowed sweetly as people filed through a line to hand off their money, but once her eyes landed on us, a large smile broke out across her face.
"Mando!" She exclaimed as she swaggered her way towards us. "Jeyna!"
I furrowed my brows playfully at her while she pocketed her money. "What's all this about?"
Cara shrugged, patting me on the shoulder. "Gotta make money somehow," She offered as her explanation. Then she turned to Din, glancing between the both of us as she sighed. "I'm assuming you aren't back because you missed me," She said dejectedly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Sadly, no," Din confirmed gravely, "We need your help."
Then she looked me up and down. "Is your armor broke or something?" She asked with a perked brow, taking in my bare face and lose hair.
I exhaled. "No," I said reluctantly, "It's just... Things have changed since we last saw you."
The main reason I left my armor back on the Crest was because I didn't need any Imperial sympathizers reporting my presence to Moff Gideon. Lots of rumors have quickly spread that there's a Mandalorian Jedi stalking the galaxy in black armor, so I figured there would be less of a chance of being recognized if I wasn't wearing my signature apparel.
Din disagreed with me back on the ship, but I eventually convinced him that leaving it was safer that wearing it.
"Well," Cara sighed, motioning to a nearby empty table, "Let's see if I can help."
Once we sat down, Cara lifted her hand in the air, signaling to the barmaid that we needed a round of spotchka. I knew I shouldn't drink anything, but hey, what the hell. Once the lady placed three cups full of the alcohol before us, I immediately grabbed my cup and took a big swig. I noticed Din glaring at me out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't care. The spotchka was pretty damn good.
Din shook his head, sighing as he leaned one of his elbows. "Are you interested or not?" He asked Cara as she knocked back her own drink
Cara eyed him, gently setting down her half empty glass. "Depends," She said, arching her brow, "What's the job?"
Din and I shared a quick glance.
"It's on Nevarro," Din explained. "I used to be stationed there, and we're going to try to draw out whoever put the bounty on the kid and get rid of them."
Oh, he made it sound so much simpler that what it was going to be. His extreme underestimation of the situation nearly made me laugh outright.
Cara just blinked at us. "I highly doubt it's going to be that simple," She observed, and rightly so.
A short laugh escaped my lips. "Look," I started, taking another sip of my drink, "There's, like, a ninety five percent chance that this is a trap."
Din grunted. "That's one way to put it," He muttered under his breath, and I fought the urge to slap him on the arm.
But Cara kept her full attention on me, and the expression on her face changed.
That's when I knew she'd heard the rumors about me, too.
I took a deep breath and said, going off of my gut instinct, "Look, I know you've heard about the bounty on my head. And I know it's the same man who is hunting me and the kid. Even if it is a trap, we don't have any other choice. It's the only shot we have at getting rid of that motherfucking prick once and for all."
Cara pursed her lips, leaning back in her chair. "Guys," She said, and my heart immediately dropped in my chest, "I don't know. I want to help, but I've been advised to lay low for a while. If anyone runs my chain code, I'll be in a cell for the rest of my life."
By the way her eyes glazed over, I could tell the looming threat of prison haunted her every move. I cautiously bit my lower lip, and Din discreetly wrapped my hand in his, giving it a tight squeeze.
We'll figure something out, he seemed to say.
I shook my head. I wasn't going to risk everything without trying my damn hardest to get her to join us.
"Cara." I said her name sternly, trying to mask my growing panic, "Do you think you're the only one running from someone?" I leaned forward, and her eyes got slightly bigger. Anger speared through my veins as I snapped, "We have the whole fucking Empire chasing us to every fucking corner of the galaxy just for some fucking kid that can move things with his fucking mind!" My voice changed to a whisper-shout, making sure not to draw attention from the people around us, but speaking loud and sternly enough to make sure she understood how urgent this was. Then I hissed, "Do you think we don't share the same fate as you?"
Cara recoiled at my words, but I needed her to understand how important this was. I didn't care if I hurt her feelings. Feelings didn't kill Moff Gideon. Her experience as a shocktrooper did.
Before she had the chance to respond, I continued sharply, "I don't care if you come with us. We're going regardless. But don't act like you've got it worse, because you don't."
She glared daggers at me, but something in her face told me she knew I was right.
"While that's very noble of you," Cara spat in my direction, "I don't feel like giving up what I have here to fight some local war lord who wants to kidnap you and the kid."
Din's neck feathered as he clenched his jaw.
"They're not local," He stated, staring her down with an intensity to rival my own, "They're Imperial."
My breathing quickened when a certain look flashed across her face. Cara clenched her own jaw, weighing her choices in her mind.
I swallowed the panic that was rising in my throat. "So are you in?" I asked her this time, and a chasm of opportunity yawned before us.
She exhaled in finality, nodding her head once.
"They're Imperial?" She asked, and Din and I nodded simultaneously.
"I'm in."
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Word count: 2165
Ooh, we're now in episode 7!! Also, I just finished the last chapter of this book yesterday!!! How exciting is that!! Thank you all SO MUCH for enjoying this wild ride with me. I cannot wait for you to read how this book ends!
And sorry, this is kind of a filler chapter, but I promise it gets better!!
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Ch 35 published: February 14th, 2021