Kasia had not realized how long it had been since the last time she had felt truly at peace in a place. Her last few years had been spent jumping from casino-planet to casino-planet, running from bounty hunters assigned by those she had cheated, and constantly being on red-alert.
But being in Sorgan, amongst the trees and the laughing children... it felt almost like she was back on Eulentian, helping her father in the garden or playing with the neighbor children. Somehow, despite the dark cloud that the raiders had cast over the village, it still seemed to shine brighter than any place she had visited in a while. She felt like for once that she was free to laugh without the need to constantly glance over her shoulder for lurking threats—and she found that she wanted to.
Kasia supposed it was ironic—she was currently a captured bounty rather than an available one, yet she somehow felt safer than when she was on the run, cheating people of their money to stay alive.
She was still shaking her head at the irony as she reentered her and Mando's shared room. Kasia grinned as she noticed that the child had been returned to them by the village children and was currently seated next to the Mandalorian who appeared to be messing around with his rifle. Striding through the doorway, Kasia went straight for the kid, crouching in front of him and giving him a one-armed hug in greeting. Eagerly the child returned the hug, patting her twice on the back.
Giving the child one of her fingers to clutch in his tiny hands, Kasia turned to Mando. "So, you gonna show me how to do all that awesome shit with that rifle or am I going to have to kill you and teach myself?"
"Somebody had a good walk," was the Mandalorian's only answer, avoiding her question. Still, Kasia didn't miss the beat of humor that accompanied her words.
But as she was about to respond, somebody beat her to it, "Knock, knock!" a voice rang out through their room.
"Come in," the Mandalorian replied, both him and Kasia straightening as they turned to see Omera walk through their front door, a large meal tray in hand.
On her walk, Kasia had asked a village citizen about the woman and had received three tidbits of information: first that her name was Omera, second that she was a widow, and third that she was beloved by everybody who knew her. And honestly, looking at her, Kasia could understand why.
As Omera set down the food on the table, her daughter Winta rushing into the room after her. Kasia raised an eyebrow as the two of them lingered in the doorway, Winta obviously trying to work up the courage to ask her and Mando something. Omera nodded to her daughter once, and with a deep breath Winta turned to face them.
"Can I feed him?" she asked softly, looking up at them with wide, adorable eyes.
Smiling down at the lovely child, Kasia nodded once, and when Mando failed to immediately respond, she nudged him with her right elbow. His gaze instantly shot to hers, and she could almost picture his scowl as he hesitantly muttered, "Sure."
A wide smile split across Winta's face and, grabbing a piece of food from the tray her mother had brought, she made her way over to where the child sat in his cradle, watching them curiously. As she crouched in front of him, his eyes followed the scrap of food in Winta's hand.
"You hungry?" Winta asked the child and he cooed in confirmation. Giggling, she allowed him to bite the food from her hand. The girl glanced back over her shoulder at her and Mando, "Can I play with him?"
Once again, Kasia nodded emphatically, but as she went to jab Mando in the side, he avoided the hit. "Sure," he sighed, tossing Kasia a weary glance. Smirking slightly, and not giving him a chance to reconsider, Kasia gingerly picked the child up from where he sat in the cradle and placed him on the floor next to Winta.
Winta giggled, "Come on," she said turning to leave through the front door. Not looking for permission from neither Kasia nor Mando, the little bugger made a quiet babbling noise and followed his newfound friend out the door.
Immediately Mando surged forward, obviously not comfortable with letting the kid go off on his own. "I don't think-" he began but was cut off as Omera brought a hand up slightly to halt his path.
"They'll be fine," she replied warmly, peering up into his visor.
"I don't-"
"They'll be fine," she repeated, a wide smile on her face. Slowly, Mando's hand lowered though it was very clear that he wasn't comfortable with letting the kid go off on his own. And honestly, Kasia wasn't either.
"I think I'll follow them," she announced as she took a step towards the open door. With her words, Kasia threw a half-smile over her shoulder at Omera and Mando who were standing oddly close for two relative strangers who had only met that day. Then again though, Kasia supposed she wasn't one to talk about respecting personal boundaries or space. "I love playing with kids anyway."
"Yeah, well you're more of one anyway," she heard Mando remark under his breath. Still, she didn't miss the way that some of the tension seemed to slip from his body as his posture relaxed.
As she made her way out of the barn, Kasia heard a distant conversation begin between the two of them, Omera remarking that she had brought Mando some food having noticed he hadn't eaten and Mando stating that he thought it was very thoughtful of her.
Somebody might as well throw the engagement party now, Kasia thought frowning and rolling her eyes as she made her way towards the gaggle of children playing with the kid.
*.*.*
Din's body was still tense as Kasia followed the child and Winta out of the barn. It wasn't that he didn't necessarily trust Kasia—even if would never admit it, he trusted her with the kid and knew that she wasn't stupid enough to run. But... this was a new planet with new people and new dangers. No matter how lovely some of its residents may seem, there was still the threat of danger lurking around every corner.
"I brought you some food," the woman he had learned was named Omera spoke up suddenly, snapping Din's attention away from the door which Kasia and the kid had vanished from. "I noticed you didn't eat out there. I'll leave it here for when I go," she explained.
Din's throat bobbed as he suddenly realized how hungry he was—no matter what sarcastic comment Kasia might make, he needed food as much as the next person. He nodded once at the display of generosity, "That's... very thoughtful of you."
Turning away from the beautiful widow in front of him, Din picked up the rifle that he had been toying with before Omera's soft voice filled the room again, "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Go ahead," was his only answer as he polished a spot on the well-used rifle, his voice low and disinterested.
There was a short pause before Omera spoke again, obviously contemplating the question she was about to ask, "How long has it been since you've taken that off?"
Within a split second of the question, Din knew what she was referring to. He supposed it was the first question that came to one's mind whenever they saw him. How Kasia had managed to keep her mouth shut so far and had kept herself from asking him a million questions about it and his creed was still beyond him—though he supposed she more than made up for it by bugging the hell out of him with questions on every other subject imaginable.
"Yesterday," Din answered, though he knew that wasn't what she had meant when she had asked the question.
Again, the woman paused before talking, "I mean, in front of someone else."
At the question, Din finally turned to face Omera again, the red cloth he had been cleaning his rifle with, in hand. Taking a step forward, Din looked at Omera momentarily before glancing to the side and pointing to where the child and Kasia were playing with a band of children. "I wasn't much older than they are."
After speaking, Din turned his gaze on the woman in front of him, gauging her reaction as she processed the information. As usual, a mixture of disbelief and perhaps pity flashed across her face, "You haven't shown your face to anyone since you were a kid?"
"No," he responded in a passive voice, "I was happy that they took me in. My parents were killed and the Mandalorians took care of me," he explained. He didn't quite know why he was telling her so much, but he found that... it was easy. To confide in her. Perhaps it was something to do with the maternal tone of her voice or the soft light in her eyes, but he felt that he could trust her.
She nodded quickly, "I'm sorry."
Looking into her eyes for a moment, Din slowly returned her nod, "This is the Way."
She stared at him for a moment longer before glancing down shyly, "Let us know if there's anything you need."
Even though he knew she couldn't see it, Din forced a smile to his lips, "Thank you," was his stoic reply.
With that, Omera walked out of the barn. Like clockwork, Din's attention was immediately dragged to the window where the children and Kasia were playing.
He watched in silence as Kasia and the child both fell to the ground, giggling about something in the game that they were playing. For a moment, his eyes zeroed in on the dimpled smile on Kasia's face, breathtaking and joyous and real. And though he tried to fight it as he turned to grab one of the plates Omera had brought him, underneath his helmet a smile began to tug at Din's own lips as well.
*.*.*
Is that jealousy I sense Kasia? Haha anyways sorry this chapter kinda sucked... Pacing is really not my thing lol. By the way I think I'm going to try out reading goals for the next chapter because why not?
So, I'll update again when the book reaches either 500 total reads or 50 total votes... or if I feel like writing before then and decide to update anyway lol.
... honestly at this point I feel like half the reason I even continue to write this is to have somewhere to post gifs of Pedro Pascal being chaotic... and I'm not sorry for that at all haha.