THE NEXT MORNING, Mia found herself lying awake unusually early. Her mind replayed the things that were said the night before.
Did she really enjoy killing? Was there some part of her that felt a sadistic desire?
Her long hair lay sprawled on her pillow as she watched the ceiling of her small room. She couldn't recall how long she lay there, but it was a while.
Her mind cast to the moments she had no choice but to kill. In each instance, she did so in self-defence, or because the other guys deserved it. Thankfully, she couldn't recall a moment where she had murdered for the sake of pleasure. It had all been for a purpose.
Perhaps her farmer blood hadn't expected to become so adjusted to the life of a bounty hunter.
She didn't enjoy the kill, but she enjoyed the satisfaction that came about when she did it for the right reasons. When it meant that she'd saved someone in the process - herself included.
Mando was right, she had a big heart. And if that meant having to kill once in a while to protect the smaller voices in the galaxy - she would gladly do so.
After what seemed like hours, the girl finally found the strength to get out the comfort of her bed and begin the day. But first, she was in desperate need of a shower.
The small cubicle in the lower deck of the ship was nothing of a luxury shower, but it did what it was there to do.
So with damp hair and a placid expression, the girl approached the Mandalorian who sat fully armoured as always, polishing some of his blasters.
"Morning, 7P." She said to the small droid who gleefully rolled up to her. The Mandalorian suddenly aware of her presence.
"It's okay," she held a hand to her bandaged middle as she responded to the bleeping droid, "The pain's becoming bearable."
The blue droid extended out her morning pills which she grudgingly took. She hated the idea of being a patient, it made her feel weak and helpless at a time when she needed to be unstoppable.
As he cleaned the barrels of his blasters, Mando felt himself looking at the way her damp hair curled at the ends. Even injured and tired, with no effort at all, she managed to look...exquisitely natural.
"Morning asshole." She muttered before swallowing her last pill, glancing in his direction with narrow eyes.
"Still pissed?" He said.
"Actually," she sighed, "I think I might have overreacted a little last night."
He scoffed, "That's the understatement of the millennium."
Her face set hard. She wasn't one for apologising, so she had expected a much more thankful approach.
"But you were still out of line." She clenched her fists by her side.
He set his things down and approached her slowly, "Look," he held his hands up, "We both had a difference in opinion. I won't mention it again."
He stopped in front of her, "Good." She said.
He looked down at her clenched fists before meeting her eyes once more, "Then why do you look like you want to beat the crap out of me?"
"Because you never admit that you're wrong." Her voice laced with anger.
"That's because I'm right."
That's all he had to say. As she stared at the forever frustrating, placid expression of his Mandalorian helmet, he only had to speak those words to send her over the edge.
Maybe she was overreacting once more, but being cooped up on the Razor Crest with him for this long was bottling up a whole lot of unprecedented anger.
So maybe Mia was overtaxing when she swung her fist at the side of his head.
His instant reflexes kicked in as her closed his hand around hers, stopping the impact and pushing her against the wall behind her.
"You really just tried that?" He asked in a bored tone, "With a broken rib?"
She struggled to pull her hand from his grasp, biting back the pain it had caused to her injury.
Mia wasn't done, he'd just made her more angry. She swiped her right leg bending his in attempt to knock him off his feet, but once again he was too alert.
He kicked her leg back, using his other hand to pin both of hers above her head as her back pressed against the steel wall.
"Are you done?" He said, head tilting inches from her.
She tried to struggle, but it only sent a shooting pain through her.
"Take your armour off and we'll see how tough you really are." She said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, so now you want me to strip?" He teased.
When she stopped struggling under his grasp, he tentatively realised and stepped back.
"Lets just go over the plan." Her angered expression hid the physical pain she felt in her ribs. It was her own fault of course, but worth the try.
"The sooner we get this stupid mission done, the close I am to never seeing your face again." She grunted.
She was tired of it all. She felt like she was being held in solitary confinement with the most infuriating cell mate ever. And she was in desperate need of breakfast.
He too was beginning to feel the suffocation of sharing his small living quarters with someone who was so fell into constant disagreement with him over the smallest of things. Of course there were some moments they shared that he considered to be facets of friendship, but maybe he was mistaken.
"Glad we're on the same page." He said and left it at that.
A short while later, Mando had set up a sketched blueprint of the interior of the Imperial ship from what he had observed. Mia snuggled into her co-pilot seat beside him, enjoying a bowl of porridge.
He observed the map for a while, making the odd small adjustments as she munched her breakfast.
"Okay," He leaned back in his pilot seat, "I think I've covered every possible scenario."
Mia tried her best to be civilised to get through the last stage of their mission, "Tell me." She said plainly.
He turned in his seat to face her, eyes falling to the empty bowl she set down.
"So you were hangry? That was it?" He observed.
Her brown eyes narrowed in his direction. Unfortunately he may had been correct. Her anger had a lot to do with the fact that her stomach ached for food, but she wasn't going to admit that.
"Get on with the plan, Mando." She said.
He swallowed as she gave a look that could kill. Reluctantly, he turned to the plans later out on the dashboard and cleared his throat as he began.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Surprisingly, she'd managed to stay alert and focused the entire time as they debated over which strategies were best and what weapons of choice were better.
The sun hung low in the sky, casting a shade of pinky orange the pair as they finalised the details of the plan.
"So we agree that once we're at this point," he pointed to a location on the map, "I'll handle the front entrance."
"And that's when I come in through this back entrance, take out the two guards that'll be posted there and grab the Queen." said Mia.
He nodded, "If you're sure you can handle it." Motioning in the direction of her bandaged middle.
"I can handle two Imps, even in this state." she replied.
"Good, and as soon as I've secured the entrance, I'll meet you two at the back. Then we get the hell off this planet." he said.
"You realise it's four against one? And that's without us assuming there could be more posted at the entrance that we don't know about."
"I like those odds." He said modestly.
Mia rolled her eyes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once they felt as thought they'd covered every possible scenario and bad situation, Mia found herself sitting on the floor of the ship, back leaning against the wall opposite the bay window.
The now deep red sunset rays were resting on her face.
The Mandalorian who appeared from the upper level look to her with confusion. The girl sat, eyes closed, capturing the smallest bit of sunlight that peeled through to the ship. It was a beautiful sight undoubtedly, but an odd one at that.
"Don't fall asleep like that," he said heavy toned, "You'll regret it in the morning."
An irritated sigh escaped her lips. "I've been sunlight deprived, let me savour these last few minutes."
BB-7P rolled up beside her as she sensed the quiet in the air. Peeking one eye open, Mia could make out Mando standing with arms folded across his chest.
She groaned, "You're always so uptight." Her voice was quiet and calmed from the pleasurable heat radiating from the sun into her skin. "Come sit, enjoy the sunset."
He stood hesitantly, ready to snap back - but he didn't. Instead he found himself admiring how smooth her skin looked under the coloured light. Almost perfect. Her usually chestnut brown hair fell down her back, radiating a golden, godly tone from the sun.
Mia was surprised to say the least when she felt the presence of the Mandalorian approaching her before joining he on the floor, back leaning against the steel wall beside her.
She'd expected a sarcastic comment, a moody remark. But instead, he seemed to comply for the first time.
He had to admit, watching the sunset though his refracted visor and feeling the rays slowly heat his metallic centre was mesmerisingly calming.
"Stop thinking." Mia mumbled, eyes still closed.
"What?" He looked at her.
"I can feel you thinking. Stop thinking. You're ruining my vibe." said Mia.
He quirked a brow. Was she getting high off the sun, he thought.
Nevertheless, he found himself obliged once more, even letting his own eyes close in contentment for a while. The hard work was yet to come, but it had been a long journey. There was no point in overthinking things now, so he just sat.
Mia felt BB7P roll up beside her again, this time she reached out a hand a tickled the tip of its head lightly to amuse the little droid.
The girl fell into that state between sleep and consciousness, where her mind wandered and there was no filter on the words that came out of her mouth. So she tiredly muttered the words that were playing on her mind.
"What do you think about kids?" she asked.
"Oh, so we're allowed to think again?" He replied.
"Would you ever have one?"
He cleared his throat, eyes now open at the sunset again.
"I mean if we were the only two people left in the galaxy, and the continuation of life as we know it depended on us repopulating I might consider —"
"Ew." She interrupted with a shake of her head, "No that's not what I meant. With some other person, could you see yourself having children?"
As Mia gently tickled the small droid on the head, she knew her answer to the question. From as young as she remembered, she'd wanted the experience of motherhood one day, a little mini her.
But as her life had taken quite the turn, that idea seemed to be pushed more and more into the future, to a point where it was difficult to see it now.
The Mandalorian would be lying to himself if he said he hadn't given it much thought. But he never dwelled on it. It was cruel to dwell on impossibility.
He sighed, as Mia felt her eyes falling closed once more.
"It's not really on my agenda," he said "Mandalorians' futures are very set in stone."
"So you just live this life," Mia said tiredly, "and you don't even have a say."
He watched the dancing colours of the sunset, a sombre feeling washing over him as she was once again managing to break his barriers, knocking down the walls that he'd spent so long building up.
He said in an almost whisper, "This is the way."
"The way sucks."
The last thing Mia remembered was a hearing a low gruffle beside her, like a deep chuckle before falling into a heavy sleep.
Mando, on the other hand, was sure that sleep wouldn't come so easily to him tonight. But as soon as he felt the light pressure of a head falling onto his shoulder, he suddenly felt a sense of ease like he'd never felt.
BB-7P settled next to Mia's outstretched legs as the sun set into darkness over the three.
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stay safe my lovelies