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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄
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AERYN TRIED HER BEST not to dwell her thoughts on what Gor Koresh had told her but she failed; miserably. Their mission to return the child to its kind is what she must be focusing about but the thought of some bounty hunters hunting for her flooded inside her mind.
She was not concerned for her own safety. What she was most concerned about was Din's safety and the child's. If Moff Gideon wanted her alive, what could possibly happen to her family?
What could be of Din and the child?
"Aeryn," Din's voice snapped the girl out of her thoughts. A gloved hand was gently placed on top of her shoulder, caressing her. "We're here."
"Oh," Aeryn stood up from her seat, still completely taken aback by her thoughts.
The Mandalorian did not fail to notice Aeryn's strange behavior. When she was just about to leave the cockpit, Din held her wrist, stopping her from walking any further.
"Is something wrong?" Din asked with concern taking over him. Underneath his beskar helmet, his eyebrows were furrowed in worry.
Aeryn, however, only looked directly at Din's eyes and flashed a small, reassuring smile. Though her smile was bright, the Mandalorian was not buying it. Din only chose to observe Aeryn's face one last time before letting her wrist go.
"You know you can always talk to me. We're together for a reason." Din reminded her.
He did not choose to meddle or force Aeryn to tell him what was on her mind because he wanted for her to be comfortable with it. He wanted her to feel free and in control of what she chooses to say to him or not.
Din knew that whatever was on Aeryn's mind, she will let him know once she was ready. After all, she was the only one she could fully trust.
"I know, and I thank you for that." Aeryn gently placed her hand on the side of Din's helmet, caressing it. "If only I could kiss you right now."
"Sure." Din quickly held the sides of his beskar helmet and motioned to remove it but was stopped by Aeryn's hands.
"Din!" fits of laughter escaped Aeryn's lips, processing how she had just seen Din Djarin act.
The sight of Aeryn's bright smile, her violet eyes sparkling in joy, and the angelic sound of laughter escaping her lips was more than what the Mandalorian could ask for. Underneath the beskar helmet, Din smiled as he watched his world revolving right in front of him.
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"HEY, HEY, HEY! Sorry, gang. Come on! You know he doesn’t like droids!" Peli Motto's voice roared all throughout the entire Spaceport.
The clan of three headed their way toward the middle-aged mechanic woman. She slowly turned to face her and almost immediately gave Aeryn a bright, big smile.
"May as well let them have at it. The Crest needs a good once-over." Din remarked.
"Oh! So he likes droids now. Well, you heard him. Give it a once-over!" Peli ordered her droids and as if on cue, they all headed towards the Razor Crest.
Peli Motto's eyes quickly found Aeryn's and without a warning, the middle-aged woman engulfed the girl in a tight, warm hug.
"Oh, you beautiful creature!" she shrieked, her arms tightly held around Aeryn's back. "You have no idea how much I missed you!! Yet, I'm still wondering how you became the wife of this...fellow."
Peli eyed Mando in a threatening manner and Aeryn couldn't help but laugh as she hugged the woman back. Memories of their previous adventure in Tatooine flooded Aeryn's mind.
It was quite amazing for Aeryn to imagine how far they've come now. How much things have changed yet, they are all still together. How possible that their previous 'husband and wife' facade might actually come true.
Maybe.
"Oh! Thank the Force! This little thing also had me worried sick. Come here, you little womp rat." Peli finally let go of Aeryn, now reaching for the child resting in the girl's large pouch. "Looks like it remembers me. How much do you want for it? Just kidding. But not really. You know, if this thing ever divides or buds, I will gladly pay for the offspring—HEY!"
Peli cut herself off once she was distracted by the droids letting an air tube of the Razor Crest loose.
"Oh, geez. Watch what you’re doing up there! He barely trusts your kind! What, you want to give all droids a bad name? Thank you!"
"You surely are energetic, Peli." Aeryn remarked.
"Oh well, it comes and goes. How can I not be energetic when my favorite creatures are here?" Peli beamed, her eyes still on Aeryn and the child.
Din, on the other hand, did not even bother to argue why they were her favorite creatures. Let's just say that Peli and Din just got the same taste.
"I guess a lot has changed since you were last in Mos..."
"You can say that." Aeryn answered as her eyes quickly stole a glance at Din. She didn't know but the Mandalorian clearly saw her.
"We're here on business. We need your help." Din suddenly spoke, revealing their intention in coming to Tatooine.
"Oh, then business you shall have. Care for me to watch this wrinkled critter while you seek out adventure?"
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WHEN PELI MOTTO TOLD THEM that Mos Pelgo was a place barely even known to Tatooine anymore, she was not joking around.
The clan of three had to travel for a couple of days and a night just to reach the said town. The moment they had finally arrived, it was, indeed, ghost-like.
Din decreased the speeder's acceleration as much as he can, not wanting to threaten any citizen. Aeryn, on the other hand, tightened her grip onto Din's beskar-free torso.
The breeze swiftly blew the lose strands from Aeryn's braid far from her face. It was not cold nor was it hot; it was just...sandy.
"There are barely even any people here." Aeryn whispered as the speeder passed each establishment.
Every single time they passed one, they would earn stairs, whispers, and sometimes all of the attention was on them. It appears to them that the place does not have that much visitors.
"Will you stay here with the child if I asked you to?" Din asked Aeryn as the speeder finally came to a halt. He swiftly got off the vehicle and turned to face them.
"Well, it depends." Aeryn's lips lingered at her words, playfully biting her lower lip. "Will you be safe?"
The Mandalorian, however, did not answer. He quickly—yet gently—caressed Aeryn's right cheek. Aeryn closed her eyes, cherishing Din's touch before finally watching him proceed to enter the establishment.
Turns out, it was some kind of bar.
The violet-eyed girl turned her attention towards the bag where the child rested. She carefully removed the bag off the speeder and gently wore the strap across her body, securing it.
"Well, looks like it's just you and me again, buddy."
"Might I know what a beautiful lady such as yourself is doing here?" an unfamiliar male voice suddenly spoke from behind Aeryn, catching her offguard.
Aeryn's instincts took over her body and immediately stepped away from the speeder, both of her hands prepared to reach for her blasters. She was quite surprised of what she had seen, though.
A man almost as tall as Din was stood not so far from her, wearing a red sweater underneath a worn-out Mandalorian armor.
"You're a Mandalorian?" Aeryn asked while both her hands lingered near her blasters.
"It's debatable." The stranger tapped his foot on the ground, crossing his arms. "Well, I'm sure we can talk about it over a drink, what do you say?"
"I—"
"You're the Marshal." Din's voice overpowered Aeryn, immediately cutting her off.
Din Djarin stood right at the small bar's door as his eyes shifted from the Marshal to his beloved girl. He remained cautious, still.
"What brings two strangers here? It's not that usual for us to have visitors." the Marshal asked.
"I’ve been searching for you for many parsecs."
"Well, now you found me." the Marshal replied and turned his eyes back onto Aeryn's. "My offer still stands. Would you be interested for a drink?"
The violet-eyed girl immediately turned to look at Din who was still standing near the door. She was not waiting for some approval but she was trying to assess how Din would benefit from this. Fortunately, with Din gently nodding his head at her, she came up with one.
"We have some questions to ask. Will that be alright?" Aeryn inquired and tried to use her warmest voice.
If anything, some acting skills would be quite useful at the moment.
"Sure, sweetheart."
With that, the Marshal began heading inside the bar, leaving the pair behind. Din, on the other hand, did not immediately follow after the Marshal. Instead, he continued standing by the door and faced Aeryn. He watched as she carefully made her way to him while carressing the child's head.
Aeryn stopped right in front of Din, facing him.
"You told me to stay and I obediently followed." she stated, a slight sarcasm evident on her voice. "Besides, we'd benefit from it."
However, the Mandalorian stayed silent for a few moments while he stood in front of Aeryn.
"I see." he replied, strangely uninterested.
Aeryn's eyebrows immediately furrowed in confusion as she tried to get hold of Din's wrist, stopping him from his attempt to walk away.
"Din Djarin..." a smile slowly made its way on Aeryn's face. "Are you jealous?"
"No, I'm not." Din answered and proceeded to turn his back onto Aeryn. "Come on, sweetheart."
With that, the Mandalorian proceeded to enter the bar, leaving Aeryn alone with her thoughts.
"What?" Aeryn chuckled to herself, shaking her head, before finally following Din.
Oh, how incredibly amusing it was for fhe violet-eyed girl to see a Mandalorian act jealous. It was not something you see everyday. That, she was extremely certain of.
The Marshal now sat by a table with a pitch of spotchka and three cups while Aeryn stood beside Din, watching from a few steps away.
The thing was, the Marshal's helmet was no longer covering his face. It now rested right on the table.
"I've never met such a beautiful lady before—especially one along a real Mandalorian." the Marshal chuckled, obsrving the pair. "Heard stories. I know you’re good at killing. And probably none too happy to see me wearing this hardware. So… I figure only one of us walking out of here. But then I see the little guy and the girl, maybe I pegged you wrong."
"Who are you?" Din asked, his voice as cold as ice.
"I’m Cobb Vanth, Marshal of Mos Pelgo." Cobb answered and lifted a cup full of spotchka in front of him, looking at Aeryn. "Want a drink?"
"No, thank you." Aeryn politely rejected. "We were just wondering, where did you get the armor?"
"Bought it off some Jawas. Turns out those creatures are helpful sometimes."
"Hand it over." Din demanded, still at his hostile state.
Aeryn knew that at this moment, she wouldn't be able to do anything especially when it comes to what Din's chooses to do. All she made sure of was that whenever unpleasant things happen, she'd at least be there to make it less worse and protect the child.
"Look, pal, I’m sure you call the shots where you come from, but ’round here, I’m the one tells folks what to do." Cobb replied, chuckling in between some of his words.
"Take it off." Din took a couple of steps closer to the table, his voice still cold. "Or I will."
"We gonna do this in front o’ the girl and the kid?"
The child resting in the bag cooed, looking up at Aeryn. She gently placed her hand on top of his head, caressing it while her other hand lingered near her blaster.
"Trust me, I'm no ordinary girl and we've seen worse." Aeryn answered.
"Right here, then?"
"Right here."
Cobb stood up from his seat and tension started taking over the air. Neither one of the three moved but they were all prepared, silently.
Aeryn watched the charming Marshal very carefully as she, at the same time, tried to comfort the child inside the bag. The tension was cut short, though.
The ground started rumbling, almost making Aeryn almost fall off the ground. Luckily, Din was there to support her balance right on time. He had his arms wrapped around Aeryn's shoulder and supported her hand that was protecting the child.
"Thank you." Aeryn whispered to Din.
Cobb made his way to the door and the pair, along with the child, followed.
They watched as the ground continued rumbling while citizens of the small town screamed as they all ran back to their homes.
"What's going on?" Aeryn asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"You'll see." Cobb replied and pointed his finger far from the town.
The pair intently watched as an unknown creature's loud growl echoed through the town. The ground continued to rumble and the next thing they know, sharp fins of what seemed to be a large beast started emerging from the sand.
"What—"
The violet-eyed girl was not even able to finish her sentence right before the head of a kreyt dragob revealed itself and ate the Bantha that was still standing on the sand.
All in one large bite.
"Maybe we can work something out."
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so about the season finale.....i never knew i could cry for 44 minutes straight....
-starr