ix

We stand in front of the adults of the village, silent as we watch their anxious movements and murmurs. It's a few moments before Mando speaks up. "Bad news. You can't live here anymore." he says bluntly. My jaw drops and I look at him with an expression on my face that screams, 'Really? Way to be a jackass'.

"Nice bedside manner." Cara mutters as the villagers let out confused shouts of protest.

I snort. "Seriously."

"Is he always like this?" Cara turns to me. I lean on the wall behind them, observing.

"As far as I know. Maybe he's just a jerk when I'm around." Mando lets out a sigh at my comment. I nudge him. "Oh, come on, Mando. I'm joking."

He fakes being upset, turning back around. I only know he's faking because, since the mask makes it really hard to tell, I have to look at body language. He isn't tense; he's relaxed, in a joking mood the same as me. That is, until we refocus on the villagers and their current predicament. 

"You think you can do better?" Mando asks Cara, who stands at his shoulder.

She smirks. "Can't do much worse." She steps forward, speaking to the villagers. "I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but there are no other options."

"You took the job!" a man in the crowd protests. He's backed up by the agreeing shouts of the others.

"That was before we knew about the AT-ST." she fires back.

"What is that?"

"The armored walker with two enormous guns that you knew about and didn't tell us." Cara deadpans.

The villagers cry out again, asking for help and saying that since we took the job, we should be able to do something about it.

"We have nowhere to go." Omera pleads.

"Sure you do. This is a big planet." Cara reasons. "I mean, I've seen a lot smaller." Omera looks to me for help, but I just look away, my heart heavy with guilt. There's nothing I can do, despite how much I desperately want to help.

"My grandparents seeded these ponds. It took generations." Two men shout.

"I understand. I do. But there are only..." she looks back at me to see if I'll be helping. I nod, and she turns back to the crowd. "three of us."

"No, there's not. There's at least twenty here." a man argues.

"I mean fighters. Be realistic!"

"We can learn! We can! Give us a chance!" the villagers argue back, desperate to save their home.

"I've seen that thing take out entire companies of soldiers in a matter of minutes." Cara argues, refusing to send these people to their deaths.

"We're not leaving." Omera says firmly.

Cara looks her dead in the eye. "You cannot fight that thing."

"Unless we show them how." At this, every eye turns to Mando. The villagers begin talking among themselves excitedly as I whirl on Mando.

"When I said we needed to do something, this is not what I meant." I scold, running a hand through my loose hair.

"I know. But it could work." I look at him, eyes wide.

"Are you out of your mind?" I hiss. "You'll get them all killed!"

"No, I won't. Trust me on this, Nova. It won't be like last time." I wince at his mention of one of the darkest times of my life. 

My hand shakes violently as I step close to him, a finger in his face. "Don't you bring that up. Ever. That's exactly how this is going to go. They are not prepared to fight that thing!" He grabs my wrist lightly, but I wrench it out of his grasp, my lip quivering. "You know what? I don't even know why I told you that. Forget it."

"But-"

"Please." With that, I turn on my heel and walk away, into the forest.

>>>>><<<<<

 (Nightfall)

I find my way back to the village after a few hours of time in the forest. I had gone on a run and trained a bit to let off some steam, knowing nothing good would come of my return to the village if I was still angry. And yes, it was messed up for Mando to bring up an event of my past that I had trusted him enough to tell him in a moment where I was vulnerable. But I can't stay mad at him, and I need to help this village if Mando is going to let them do this. Plus, I know that he's just trying to help. I just wish there was a better way.

I return to find the village completely different. For a moment I panic, wondering if I got turned around and I'm at the wrong village. Luckily, I manage to spot Omera in the crowd before I freak out too much, and I calm myself. They've just been at work, is all.

I emerge from the denser part of the forest that surrounds the area and make my way back inside the village, marveling at all the changes. A barricade has been put up, a huge trench has been dug in the ponds, and the villagers are armed with either guns and blasters (I assume from Mando's unnecessarily huge collection) or sharpened sticks. Also, there are no children in sight, and Mando and Cara are missing.

I go to Omera, thinking that if anyone knows what's happening, it's her. "Where are they?"

"They've already gone to the Raiders' camp." she explains to me what to do, which is basically just protect the village at all costs while Mando and Cara take out the AT-ST. "I'm assuming you know how to fight, because you came here with them. You do, right?"

I conjure a pointed spear of light into my hands. "Of course." I shoot her a smile and crouch next to her. I ignore whatever her reaction is to my powers. Now isn't the time, and quite frankly, people knowing about my abilities is the furthest thing from my mind. What matters right now is doing as Omera said and protecting the village at all costs.

"Hey, are you okay? You ran off earlier, and we couldn't find you. Mando was getting worried." she looks at me, her eyes full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just... wasn't feeling too good, that's all." Guilt forms in my stomach like a rock. I shouldn't have stormed out. I left Mando and Cara to plan everything on their own because I was scared. I should've stayed, I should've helped them plan everything so it wouldn't happen like last time. Maker, I'm such an idiot.

A thought comes to mind, and it sends my heart plummeting to my feet. "Where are the kids?" I ask, feeling my pulse accelerate. My heart beats madly in my chest.

"They're safe in the barn. Don't worry. We can do this." I sigh. If only I was as confident as her.

We stay crouched and ready for a few minutes more, and I can feel the anticipation of the fight building in my bones. This is what I was trained for. I've been fighting since I was seventeen. I'm ready. I will not let this village suffer the same fate as the one before.

We can hear crashes and thumps in the distance, and the ground shakes beneath our feet. "This is it!" I call out. "Get ready!"

Mando and Cara make it back, panting from the run here. I greet Mando with a nod as he takes his place next to me.

"Once that thing steps into the pond, it's goin' down!" Cara adds on to my statement.

We wait, anxious, as we hear the machine approach. Cara calls for our weapons to be ready.

"Just a few more steps," Mando whispers as the AT-ST thuds closer. Maker, it's moving so slow, the suspense is practically murdering me.

And then, to everyone's horror, the machine grinds to a steady halt. It turns on an extremely bright light, scanning the area. "Get down, get down," Mando instructs in a whisper-yell. I dim the brightness of my spear so I don't draw attention, and everyone crouches low behind the barriers. Well, almost everyone.

"Caben! Stay there!" Omera screams as the AT-ST shoots in their direction, exploding a building behind them.

"Hold your positions!" Cara backs her up. The Raiders then come running at us from behind the machine, yelling savagely. "Open fire!!"

The amateur villagers begin shooting, most of them way off of their targets. Only Omera and a couple of others manage to hit anyone. I discard my spear at the moment, deciding I need to help the shooters. I throw knives at every Raider in my line of sight. All of the knives I throw find their targets easily- neck, heart, head, even a couple of legs are hit.

The AT-ST shoots into the village behind us and I start to panic. Will the children be alright? They'd better hope so because if they hurt a single hair on any child's body, not one of the Raiders will leave this village alive.

"We gotta get that thing to step forward." Mando mutters.

"I'm thinking." Cara groans, wracking her brain.

Then, it comes to me. "New plan." I murmur. Mando looks to me, and I can feel the surprise radiating off of him.

"What do you have in mind?" he asks.

"Give me the pulse rifle." I demand. It's not a request. He hands it over willingly.

"We'll cover you." he assures me. Weapon in hand, I nod and run out from the cover of the barricades. The AT-ST sets its sights (well, more like its headlight) on me. I shoot at it before jumping into the water and narrowly avoiding a shot from the machine.

Hiding behind one of the grassy banks of the pond, I pant and lean my head back against the temporary cover, closing my eyes. I have to do this. This village needs to be safe.

Steeling myself, I turn and aim the gun above the bank, shooting the walker in its... head area, if you could even call it that. "Come to mama." I mutter.

It steps forward again, but it's still not enough. It's barely at the edge of the pond. It shoots at me, narrowly missing and causing me to duck. I turn to shoot again, but the machine anticipates it and shoots at me. I gasp, turning away for cover. Damn it.

I hear Cara's shout of "It's now or never!" and see villagers flooding out from behind the barricades, armed with sharpened sticks. Oh, no. I need to get this thing down fast; it's painfully obvious that these people have never fought a day in their lives. 

The walker continues to search for me with its headlight, firing repeatedly at the grass guarding me. I stay hidden, hoping it'll either think I'm dead and look elsewhere, or step into the pond while looking for me.

Luckily, I feel its headlight move off of me. Like Cara said, it's now or never. I whirl, aiming the rifle perfectly. When it turns back to me and its headlight is on me once more, I know I have a clear shot. The bolt penetrates its eye directly in the middle. The thing stumbles and finally slips into the pond, falling with a crash.

Mando runs over as fast as he can, throwing a bomb into his broken eye before jumping into the pond alongside me. To my shock and utter surprise, he wraps his arms around me, protecting me as the blast goes off. I duck my head, unintentionally burying my face in his shoulder. We stay like that for a moment, both of us panting. I can feel him shaking from the adrenaline rush, as I probably am too. The Raiders, seeing their defeated AT-ST, begin to flee.

Mando and I look around at our victory, at the cheering villagers, and laugh in relief. We did it. It's over. We're safe. The village is safe.

"Was that the plan?" he asks, looking down at me.

I chuckle. "Something like that."

After a moment I pull away from Mando awkwardly, clearing my throat and not looking at him. "Listen, Mando, I'm sorry for blowing up on you earlier. I didn't mean to do that, or storm off and not help you guys with any of this... It was amazing, by the way..." I trail off, not knowing what else to say.

"It's alright. It's a sensitive subject, I get it. I shouldn't have brought it up." he brings me into another hug, but it's delicate and purposeful. Not for protection, but comfort. I wrap my arms around his torso, before realizing we're still in the pond.

I clear my throat. "We should probably... um, get out of the pond." he chuckles at that, pulling himself up onto the grassy banks and helping me out.

>>>>><<<<<

 (A week later)

I groan as I'm shaken awake quite rudely. "What?" I whine tiredly, my eyes still glued shut.

"Nova, you gotta get up." I hear Mando's voice, and realize it's his gloved hands on my arms.

"Why?" I ask, slightly interested but still half-asleep.

"I need to show you something. Get up, or I'll drag you there." he threatens playfully. I sigh dramatically, opening my eyes and swinging my legs over the side of the cot. I reach up lazily, and he sighs and pulls me to my feet.

There's only one thought on my mind: What is so important that he has to get me up in the middle of the night to show me?

He leads me out of the barn and through the forest, and I notice an incline in the ground we're walking on. "Do you mind if I ask where we're going?"

He shrugs. "To the middle of nowhere."

I nod, unconvinced. "Yeah, there's a lot of that here. You're being oddly vague." I turn my head to look at him as we walk, noticing the tension in his frame. He seems nervous. "What are you up to?" I ask, now suspicious.

"You'll see. Stop being impatient." I narrow my eyes at him. And then, of course, the toe of my boot catches a root and I start to fall.

My hands automatically go up to cushion myself, but there was no need. Mando's reflexes had reacted faster than mine, and his arm wraps around my waist to prevent my fall. He pulls me upright, and his hand lingers on my waist for a second more until he lets go and walks on without a word. I raise a brow. He's acting weird.

We finally reach a clearing on the top of a hill. It's absolutely beautiful up here, with no trees to obstruct our view of the sky and no light of civilization around to block out the stars. I look up in wonder, craning my neck to see the stars better and turning in a circle so I don't miss a single one.

Mando clears his throat, and I turn, a smile still lingering on my face. He's sitting in the middle of the clearing, and beckons me over. I obey, sitting down next to him.

"Why are you doing this, Mando? Out of every night, why tonight?" I don't take my eyes off of the night sky as I ask. It's as if I could look at it forever.

"You'll see. But, since stargazing is your thing and I haven't seen you do much of it, I thought it might be nice. Especially after last week." I shake my head. He's still speaking very vaguely.

"Well, that's not entirely true." I point out. He looks over to me, waiting for me to continue. "I've done a bit of stargazing here and there. A couple of nights ago, the child woke up in the middle of the night. He wouldn't let me sleep so I took him outside and pointed out constellations to him until sunrise."

"You know the constellations?" he asks, surprise detectable in his tone.

I nod. "Yeah, I charted all of the stars when I lived on Arvala-7. I'll have to chart Sorgan's sky, see what's different here." The last part is just me thinking out loud, but he doesn't seem to mind.

He leans back onto the grass so he's laying down fully, the sudden movement taking me by surprise. I tilt my head at him, his actions confusing to me.

"We've got a bit of time still. Might as well get comfortable." he tells me, shrugging.

"A bit of time until what?" I ask quickly, wanting to know his plan. Clearly, he has one.

He chuckles. "Patience, Nova." 

>>>>><<<<<

(Mando's POV)

She pouts beside me in the grass, not liking that I'm keeping the surprise from her. My heart had sped up the first time she'd asked what I'm up to. It almost scares me how easily she can read me.

We've just been looking at the stars for a good few minutes, and I can see why Nova likes it. There are trillions of stars out there, and quite honestly... they're a sight to see. I turn my head, looking at the woman beside me. She's focused, I can tell by her furrowed brows and the way she bites the inside of her cheek when she's concentrated. She's probably beginning on her task to chart Sorgan's night sky right now.

I truly, truly hope she'll enjoy what I have planned for tonight. Judging by how things are going, I think it'll all turn out well. But still, that doesn't help my nerves. I'd spent half the day planning for this, just as soon as Omera told me what would be taking place. I'd gone out looking for the perfect spot first thing after she'd told me, and I'd even considered bringing food but had deemed it too much. After all, we aren't on a date or anything, as much as I'd like for this to be one.

"Did you know," Nova speaks up from beside me, still looking at the sky. "that the stars fascinate me more than anything else? They're dying, you know, every single one of them. Some of them are already dead. And yet, they're still the most beautiful things I've ever seen." 

I hum in agreement, still looking at her. Seeing the stars reflected in her deep, chocolate irises, as beautiful and infinite as all of the galaxy, I have to agree. But it's not the stars that make her eyes beautiful, it's her eyes that make the stars beautiful. And I know that if it weren't for her eyes, if it weren't for her and the look of awe that she gets every time she looks into the night sky, the stars would be nothing to me.

And that, I suppose, is where we agree but also disagree. She makes the stars beautiful, but they aren't in first place. She could outshine the stars by a million lightyears. The stars should be jealous of how bright she is.

As I look at her, a warm feeling floods my chest, almost to the point where it hurts. But it doesn't hurt; it's an overwhelming sense of... happiness, almost, but that's not quite it. I feel euphoric, and exceedingly aware of the fact that my heart is beating a million lightyears a minute. My hands begin to tremble, and a part of me wonders if I'm sick or just incredibly nervous.

All of a sudden she gasps, sitting up as if that will bring her closer to the stars. "Mando..." she breathes in amazement. I look up at the sky to see that what I brought her out to see has started.

"Surprise," I murmur, not taking my eyes off of the beautiful woman next to me as I sit up. 

"Oh, I haven't seen a meteor shower in years!" she turns to me and throws her arms around me with such force that I'm thrown back into the grass and she's practically on top of me. I laugh and gently bring her into my arms. "Thank you." she says quietly, her face buried in my shoulder.

"You're welcome. But you better sit up, you're going to miss it!" she bolts upright and before I know it, she's looking up again. I lean back on my hands, watching her as she gazes at the phenomenon with pure awe on her face. She mimics me, leaning back and placing her head on my shoulder to watch. I smile, the warm feeling blooming once more. This moment is peace and happiness, and I just wish it would last.

{word count: 1313}

A/N: this got so cheesy omg it's horrible but i couldn't resist :)