The first time I wake up, I find myself snuggled up against Mando's side, my head resting on the top part of his chest plate. One of his arms is tightly wrapped around my body, ensuring that I stayed on top of him. I don't exactly remember falling asleep like this, but if I were being honest, I didn't really mind.
I continued to keep my eyes closed, my body too tired to pull myself into a full state of consciousness. I could tell that it was pretty late at night, so there wasn't any point in actually getting up just yet. I was going to shift around a bit, but the moment Cara talks, I divide to stay still.
"So, how long have you two been together?" Cara asks, letting a small hum trail her words. It takes a moment for Mando to answer, but he eventually gets to it.
"We've been working together for-"
"No. That's not what I'm talking about," she quickly interrupts. I could practically hear the smirk in her tone. And that was something that made my heart race. "I mean, how long have you guys been together."
"If you're implying-"
"Yes. I'm implying," she says, cutting him off once more. Mando pauses for a moment and the arm he had wrapped around me seemed to tense up. "Look, even though it doesn't seem like it, Mae and I have known each other for a while. I know she doesn't open up easily and the fact that she didn't wake up when you moved her around... It just really says something about your guys' connection."
"What do you mean?" Mando asks, his voice cracking through his helmet's modulator.
"When we were riding together, she had always been a light sleeper and I learned that she didn't trust easily. I'm just saying, you two act like you're together or something. And I wouldn't be surprised if you were," she continues, the smirk in her tone appearing again. It takes everything in me not to pop up and tell her to stop talking in hopes to save my reputation, but I was curious as to who their conversation would end. "So, how do you feel about her?"
There's a long pause and during the treacherous silence, I focus on Mando's slow breathing. I try to sense his heartbeat, but the beskar chest plate that was set between my face and his chest was too thick for me to truly sense anything.
"I care for her more than I'd like to admit," he mutters quietly. He pulls me up a little more so my face was resting in the crook of his neck, a part that his metal chest plate wasn't covering.
"In what way?" she asks, but Mando doesn't answer her. "Alright, fair enough. Here's my only request though: If you do ever admit it, don't break her heart afterward. She's gone through enough pain that will last her a lifetime. So if you do, make sure you mean it."
They both fall silent, leaving the conversation at that. Mando's arm seemed to tighten around me again, making my body rest perfectly on his. And though the silence remained, I could hear something. Well, it was more like I could feel something. Through the thick cloth just above the top of Mando's chest plate, I could feel a faint thumping, growing faster and faster.
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"You're hosting the asset I need."
I let out a long sigh and open my eyes, looking into the eyes of my so-called father. If that's what he wants to be called, I might as well indulge him in his request every now and then.
"You really don't like to let me sleep peacefully, huh?" I say, shaking my head while crossing my arms. He hums and nods his head, keeping his eyes set on mine. I could tell that he was trying to figure out what he wanted to say to me, but he didn't know how to say it.
"Where are you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I tease sarcastically, flashing my brows.
"Yes, I really would like to know," he spits back at me, not wanting to deal with my quick remarks. His temper seems to be shorter than usual. I almost found it funny. I hum and perk a brow at him, a wicked smile setting over my face. "I have bounty hunters back out searching for you and the asset, yet none of them have turned up with it, nor have they turned up with you."
"It sounds like you're hiring the wrong bounty hunters," I say, nonchalantly shrugging my shoulders while disrespecting his choice in hunters. "Vader did always have better taste in picking out bounty hunters."
"You won't be saying that for long," he snaps back at me, his temper starting to flame in his tone. I could already tell that he was moody, but this was another level of irritation that I hadn't seen from in quite some time.
"What's wrong? Not a big fan of losing?" I tease, mockingly pouting my lips. He glares at me and growls, his real persona starting to come out. It was the side of him that always wanted to win, regardless of who he was going against. The side of him that was always hungry for some sort of child, even if it meant beating down and breaking apart a child. "Nothing is playing out in your favor and you just can't stand it," I egg on, hoping to break the calm composure he always tried to hang onto. He growls some more and he takes out the infamous dark saber that I've learned to hate.
"Watch it. Our force connection is still strong enough for you to feel immense pain," he snaps, his eyes narrowing at me. I let out a harsh laugh and shake my head.
"You still don't get it, huh? You don't scare me anymore. Your threats are empty to me at this point," I say, shaking my head with a taunting smile. "How about you take your little dark saber and get out of here," I continue, turning on my heel to walk away.
"Don't you dare walk away from me!" he screams, finally snapping. I hear his loud footsteps running up behind me and I snatch my lightsaber from my waist, whipping around and slashing at him to block his attack.
"I'm sorry that you've lost control of me and you don't like it, but it's always good to try new things," I say, glaring at him. I hold my lightsaber out towards him and nod my head once. "I'm not going to fight you. That's mainly because I know that's what you really want from me, and I really don't want to please you."
"Whether you fight back or not, it won't change my own action," he says, a devilish smile growing on his face. "I've been waiting quite a while for this."
He storms forward, slashing his saber at me. I roll out of the way, but the moment I pop back up to my feet, he kicks me right in the center of my back, sending me flying forward. I let out an irritated groan as I whipped around, glaring at him as I propped myself up on my elbows. He raises his dark saber again, but I kick him in one of his knees and roll out of the way. I quickly pop back up to my feet, avoiding his grasp. I turn and swipe at him, but he ducks and stabs the glowing blade forward.
And just as his dark saber stabs right through my torso, I'm shaken awake. I suck in a harsh breath, my eyes snapping open as I jolt into an upright position. My hand snaps down to my stomach, right where he had stabbed me. My lungs were heaving and part of my torso burned, but there was nothing there.
"Are you okay?" Mando asks, both of his hands gently gripping onto my shoulders. I stare at him as my chest heaves, my mind slowly clearing up. I close my eyes and swallow hard, straightening my back out.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I mutter. He keeps his gaze on me, but I look past him to see Cara staring at me. I flash my bros and notice that the carriage we were in had come to a stop. "Are we here?" I ask, looking around. Mando nods his head and I let out a shaky breath. "Great, then let's get to work." I ignore their worried looks and jump out of the carriage. My hands were still shaking as I set one on my stomach, still feeling nothing but a sensational tingle.
"They're here!" a few children shout. They all run up and I let a small smile grace my face as I look down at them. They all kneel next to the child and I watch as he plays with them. Mando and Cara step up beside me and I look at them both. Sometimes I forget how much taller they are than me.
"Looks like they're excited to see us," Cara says, nodding her head while glancing over at Mando and me.
"Looks like it," Mando replies shortly.
"Omera should be fixing up your rooms right now. Here, we'll take you to them," one of the boys says, waving his hand towards a few of the huts that were set in front of us.
"You guys can go on. I'm just gonna, grab a few more things," I say, smiling at my two taller companions. Mando looks me over for a moment before nodding his head. I turn back to the carriage as they walk away from me and the carriage. I grab my bag and open it up, shoving my lightsaber to the very bottom, hiding it under a few sets of clothes I had packed away.
If that one kid could recognize my saber and connect it to me being a Jedi, then who knows who else will be able to recognize it. I close my bag and back away from the carriage, slinging it over my shoulders before walking over to the hut that I had seen Mando walk into. When I step inside, I see Mando already settling down as a beautiful woman moved around him, setting down a stack of blankets near the edge of the bed. She looks up and spots me, a smile falling over her face.
"I hope that this is comfortable for you two. I only had two extra rooms and he said that you would be staying with him," she explains. I look over at Mando and I smirk.
"Did he now?" I tease, looking back over to the woman. "Thank you for setting up the room. I'm Mae, by the way," I introduce, sending her a kind smile as I stuck my hand out to her.
"My name's Omera." She takes my hand, squeezing gently.
Our interaction was calm and gentle, but when Mando suddenly whips around with a blaster in his hand (oh you know, scaring the shit out of me. It's cool I guess, he does that all the fucking time-), I draw my hand away from the woman, looking towards the door to see what had caused Mando to freak out. When I spot a small girl, I let out a small sigh, stepping towards my masked companion. I set my hand on his arm and gently push is down.
"It's just a kid," I whisper, watching him holster his blaster. I look back towards Omera and the young girl who was now clinging onto her side. I smile and nod my head. "Sorry. We've just been on edge lately."
"It's okay. This is my daughter, Winta. We don't get a lot of visitors around here," Omera explains, slowly looking down at her daughter with a kind smile. "These two are going to help protect us from the bad ones." Winta looks up at us and softly smiles.
"Thank you," she whispers. I smile some more and send her a friendly wink. Mando stands up straight, rolling his shoulders back to relax.
"Come on, Winta. Let's give our guests some time to settle in," Omera continues, taking her daughter's hand. She nods at us before walking back out, taking her daughter with her. I look up at Mando and perk a worried brow.
"You okay?" I ask, taking a seat on the bed.
"Are you?" he snaps, not turning to look at me. His tone was bitter and harsh, making me furrow my brows. We sit in silence for a few moments before I finally find it in me to speak.
"You're right. I'm not okay," I say, kicking my boots off as I let out a heavy sigh. He finally looks up at me, but he barely even turns his head to face me. I scoot up and press my back against the wooden wall of the small hut. "As of late, my dreams have just been replays of unsettling memories. in the past week, I've been shot in the shoulder, strangled by a bounty hunter and by a Mandalorian, my ship was stripped for parts, I've broken a few ribs, and I also got to witness you kill one of the only father figures I had in my life. So please, excuse me if I've been feeling a little more than just under well."
I take a few deep breaths, closing my eyes/ He doesn't say anything back to me, nor does he dare move. I slowly open my eyes, but I keep them glued to my hands that happened to be folded in my lap.
"I'm sorry," I apologize, shaking my head, "I didn't mean to burst out like that."
"Don't apologize," he says. He grabs his rifle as I lay down, resting my head on the pillow. I turn on my side, making room for him to sit down on the bed. "I'm sorry about Greef."
"Don't be," I say, snuggling into the pillow. We stay silent for a bit, but it doesn't last long.
"Who was the Mandalorian that strangled you?" he asks, beginning to clean his rifle. I hold my breath for a moment before sighing out.
"It doesn't matter," I say, looking at his back. His cape was draped on the bed and I tuck my legs under it, using it as a light blanket. I'm too lazy to actually get up and get one of the blankets that Omera had left for us.
"I knew the bruises on your neck looked worse," he mutters under his breath, shaking his head.
"I'm fine," I say, tucking one of my arms under my head to keep myself propped up a bit.
"How are your ribs feeling?"
"Fine," I answer, same as before.
"Why must you be so stubborn?" he asks, resting his rifle in his lap as he looks at me. I look back at him and let out a small sigh, snuggling my legs closer to him. He's warm and quite frankly, I'm feeling colder than I'd like to admit. I open my mouth to say something, but Omera pops into the doorway, knocking on the wood frame of the entrance. I quickly snap my mouth shut and smile at her.
"Come in," I say, sitting up while keeping my legs tucked under Mando's cape. She steps in with a tray of food, Winta following close behind her. She walks over to the crib that the kid was sitting in and kneels down in front of him.
"Can I feed him?" she asks, smiling over at Mando.
"Sure," he answers, glancing over to the little girl. I look at him with a wide smile, admiring how soft his tone was. My heart swells and my face flushes slightly. The girl giggles as she tries to feed the small green child.
"Can I play with him?"
Mando seems hesitant, but I nudge him softly with my leg. "Sure," he repeats. She smiles even more and he lifts the child out of his crib. They both turn to the door and walk out.
"Come on!" she says in an excited tone. The two children quickly leave the room, hand in hand. I smile at their joy, but Mando pops up, setting his rifle to the side. His cape slides off of my legs, leaving me cold again.
"I don't think-" he tries, but Omera takes a step in front of him to stop him.
"They'll be fine," she assures, stopping him from walking any further.
"I don't-"
"They'll be fine," she repeats, standing in front of the doorway this time. Mando freezes, looking over her shoulder for a moment before nodding and taking a step back. "I brought you two some food. I'll leave it here for you two when I go." She sets down the tray of food on the window ledge. She hesitates for a moment, but that soon clears up when she turns to face Mando and me. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead," Mando says, turning back to face me as he grabs his rifle. He sits back down, but he makes it a point to drape his cape back over my legs. I smile softly at him, snuggling them back under his cape. He adjusts it and tucks it under my legs a bit.
"How long has it been since you've taken that off?" she asks, gesturing to his helmet. I've never actually asked him that myself. I kind of just looped it together with the whole promise thing we had in place.
"Yesterday," he answers, not raising his gaze to look at her.
"No. I mean in front of someone else," she says, smiling a bit. Now that seemed to pique Mando's attention because he actually looks up at her. He pauses for a few moments before looking out the large window that sat just across the room.
"I wasn't much older than they are," Mando answers, pointing to the children that were playing outside. My eyes droop slightly and my smile falters.
"So you haven't shown your face to anyone since you were a kid?" she asks, cocking her head to the side.
"No, I was happy that they took me in. My parents were killed and the Mandalorians took care of me," he says, shaking his head. I snuggle my legs closer to him, wanting to wrap my arms around him.
"I'm sorry," Omera mutters.
"This is the way," he says.
"This is the way," I whisper.
"Let us know if there's anything you need," she continues, the air thick and uncomfortable.
"Thank you," Mando mutters. She nods and then walks out of the room, pulling the thin drapes that were used as a barrier for a door. Mando looks up at the tray of food and I slide off the bed, knowing that he needed to eat.
"I'll leave," I say, pulling my legs out from under his cape and pulling my boots back on. I quickly lace them and stand up, taking a step towards the door.
"Mae," he tries, reaching out to me. I shake my head and squeeze his shoulder comfortingly.
"Eat, Mando. You need to. I'm gonna go talk to Cara for a bit."
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Word count: 3210
Note: This chapter was originally over five thousand words, so I cut it down and split it into different chapters. I'm trying not to go too overboard with the length of these chapters, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Sorry! Hope you're all doing well.