iii

 I'm relieved when we reach the Ugnaught's moisture farm. The Mandalorian had seemed to lose interest in talking to me after our one conversation on the way down here, and the Ugnaught rode too far ahead of us to converse with us. At one point, the armored soldier had placed himself in between myself and the Ugnaught, so I was left trailing the two. All in all, it was a rather boring and uneventful walk.

I admire the setup that the Ugnaught has going for himself, too lost in thought to notice the small man dismounting his blurrg and beckoning the Mandalorian inside his home. Instead of following, though, he makes his way to me and I feel a light tap on my shoulder.

I flinch at the contact, something he doesn't miss. Closing my eyes, I take a breath to calm myself. He isn't trying to hurt me. I'm alright.

Exhaling, I turn to the man. "Yes?"

"Wait out here. Don't go anywhere," he says in a demanding tone. "I'll be with the Ugnaught."

I nod, not in the mood to shoot back a sarcastic remark about his tone or complain about being left out. Instead, after he leaves, I take a seat on the dusty ground of the desert planet and lean back until I'm lying flat on my back. Tucking my hands behind my head and crossing my ankles comfortably, I gaze up at the twinkling stars.

The stars are something I've always loved to look at. They brought me comfort in my darkest hours, made me feel safe even when I knew I could never be. As a child, often when my master was sound asleep, I'd sneak up to the roof and just take everything in. The beautiful, vast, endless expanse of space. I'd dream of exploring the galaxies with a ship of my own, a life away from slavery and suffering.

The stars always allowed me a moment to just breathe. Away from beatings, away from work and training and hunting down criminals and looking after myself and making sure nobody can find me. They're probably the one thing that's always been able to calm me, not just with their beauty but with their permanence. Nothing in my life has ever been constant and never left me. Nothing except the stars, since before I was sold into slavery and left by my parents to die, worth nothing more than a few credits of drinking money.

And now, on Arvala-7, probably the most important planet to me, the one that holds the best memories of all the planets in the galaxy, I can look at the stars whose constellations and patterns I memorized a thousand times and feel... at home. It's been years since I've felt anything like it, but I truly love this planet. If Dantooine hadn't been the better option, there's no doubt that I would've stayed here.

I sigh contently after a few minutes of stargazing, rising from my place on the ground and going to see if the Mandalorian's conversation with the Ugnaught is over yet. Instead, i hear them talking still, so I listen in and lean comfortably against the small doorway.

"What's your cut?" comes the Mandalorian's gruff voice.

"Half." the Ugnaught states simply.

"Half the bounty to guide? Seems steep." counters the Mandalorian skeptically.

"No. Half of the blurrg you helped capture." he elaborates.

"The blurrg? You can keep them both." the Mandalorian now sounds confused, so the Ugnaught explains it to him whilst shaking his head.

"You will need one. To ride. The way is impossible to ride without a blurrg mount." he elaborates.

"I don't know how to ride blurrg." The Mandalorian insists. 

I raise my hand, drawing both beings' attention. "I do."

The armored man tilts his head, a clear sign of confusion, while the Ugnaught only nods. "We will teach you. I have spoken."

>>>>><<<<<

The Mandalorian is yet again thrown off of his blurrg and to the ground roughly, causing me to cringe at the impact from atop my own calm blurrg. I was a bit rusty at first, having not been on an animal in years, but I got the hang of it much faster than the Mandalorian is.

He runs at the blurrg again, frightening it and, in turn, getting flung off. "Perhaps if you remove your helmet." the Ugnaught suggests.

"Perhaps he remembers I tried to roast him." the armored man shoots back, his tone colored with annoyance.

"This is a female. The males are all eaten during mating." the Ugnaught replies smartly.

He gets bucked off yet again, his body language becoming tenser by the minute. "Be more gentle," I call to him. "You're scaring her." 

He sighs, frustrated, and complains to the Ugnaught. "I don't have time for this. Do you have a landspeeder or a speeder bike I can hire?"

"You are a Mandalorian!" he argues. "Your ancestors rode the great Mythosaur. Surely, you can ride this young foal."

With renewed determination thanks to the Ugnaught's encouragement, the Mandalorian turns back to the blurrg and approaches much less aggressively. I lean forward on my blurrg, resting my forearms on the beast as I watch intently.

He approaches very slowly so as to not frighten the blurrg, and I can hear him muttering soothing words. Finally, the blurrg lets him rest his hand on her head, a sign of trust. He climbs onto the blurrg triumphantly.

I steer my blurrg to the fence that encloses the Mandalorian in a little pen area. "Gotta say, I didn't think you had it in you," I say, offering a sort of congratulations. 

"Thanks," he replies shortly, focused on practicing with his blurrg. I nod in return, although I'm not sure he sees it.

"We will leave at first light." the Ugnaught calls to us. I dip my head in understanding and agreement, the Mandalorian following suit.

"So, Mandalorian. Is there anything else I can call you besides that? It's a little long." I ask out of the blue, trying to make small talk. Mostly out of boredom. Arvala-7 may be beautiful, but there certainly isn't much to do. I've already charted the stars countless times so charting them again would be rather fruitless, and looking at them only offers me a distraction for a short time. However, my mystery man could provide some entertainment.

"Why?" he asks bluntly.

I shrug. "I'm just trying to be friendly. You're going to be stuck with me for a little while. It would be pretty shitty to spend that whole time hating me."

"I don't hate you. But we're not friends."

"Well, I need something else to call you. Mandalorian isn't going to work. So, you can give me some suggestions or I'll make something up." I bargain. He sighs audibly.

"Is Mando good enough for your high standards?" he snips, still somewhat distracted by his blurrg and clearly getting annoyed with me.

I pretend to consider for a moment, although I really don't need to. "It'll do."

"Good." he says with a tone of finality. That conversation is over, he's made it blatantly clear. But what I'm supposed to do with my time is still undecided, and "Mando" wasn't much help with that.

"So, Mando... how long have you been in this particularly brutal and violent profession?" I ask, surprised when silence isn't my answer.

 "I'd ask you the same, but the price on your head and stories behind your name tell me all I need to know." his reply is short, clipped.

"Ah, so you're one of those people who think they know me just because of what people say. Well, you don't, for one. And two, that wasn't an answer to my question." I add a little sass, just to see what happens.

"I don't have to answer to you." he snaps.

"That's rather rude." I mutter, still loud enough so that he can hear it.

"I know."

I scoff. "Don't be such a smartass. I know you know."

"Then don't be such an ass. Why are you still talking?"

"And you called me an ass." 

"You know I can still kill you, or carbon-freeze you, right?" he threatens, sounding quite annoyed and done with my bullshit. At least I'm not bored anymore.

"Nah, you'd miss me."

"Doubtful."

I pretend to consider for a moment. "No, I really honestly think you would-"

The armored man interrupts me. "Where did you learn to ride blurrg?" he asks, nodding to my mount. During our banter, I'd simply been guiding her in small, smooth circles to keep myself entertained. He, on the other hand, seems to be having quite a difficult time steering his mount.

"That's a random question." I point out.

 "I know," he says, and then falls silent. When it becomes clear that he isn't going to talk to me until I give him an answer, I sigh.

"I spent a few years on this planet when I was younger. It's always been my favorite. Blurrg is one of the best ways to get around." I explain. He nods.

After a few moments, to my pleasant surprise, he speaks up. "I don't know how long I've been a bounty hunter. I lost track, but it's been many years. Enough time to build a solid reputation, at least."

"How modest." I tease.

"Well, how do you think I got this job? Not many people are offered the opportunity to hunt down the best female bounty hunter in the galaxy, and even fewer would take it. And, if I'm right, I'm the first to succeed in capturing you." Wow, I think that's the most I've ever heard him say. 

I point a finger at him, correcting him. "No, actually, you're not right. I assume you've heard the story of how I got kicked out of the Guild? Well, a version of it, anyway."

"Yeah, you killed the old leader. Everyone with a sliver of experience knows it," he says.

"Yeah, that's one version. Not a very complete one. I had my reasons, and he was a terrible person anyways. There was no need to ruin my life over it." I sigh. "Well, long story short, they captured me. He and the two others that came after me. So you'd be the second."

The Mandalorian nods, seeming deep in thought. I can't actually tell, with the helmet and all, but that's what I'm going to assume.

 Time passes much quicker than I'd expected, and we're all starting to grow tired. The Ugnaught suggested we figure out sleeping arrangements, and for some reason, the Mandalorian is refusing to let me out of his sight.

"No. You're sleeping in here, where I can keep an eye on you," he says firmly.

"Why? I thought we already established this; I'm going with you." I argue stubbornly.

"How do I know you're not just going to escape and take my ship, leaving me stranded on this stupid planet? Night is the perfect cover, and you don't get the reputation you have without being at least a little bit cunning." he exclaims, his voice rising. Memories begin to resurface at his loud, harsh tone, but I push them away before they can overwhelm me.

"Because I gave you my word! Stereotype me all you want, but I never go back on my word. And this planet is not stupid." I yell.

"You're staying here."

"Fuck you." Looking straight into his visor, I see my eyes flash a bright, dangerous white, the way they do when I'm mad. I need to cool down before I do something I'm going to regret. So with that, I turn on my heel and storm out of the house, going a good distance away from the Ugnaught's little house and further into his moisture farm. I had been planning to sleep next to the house, but then Mando pissed me off so he gets to look for me in the morning.

I settle on the dirty ground, finding a comfortable position and gazing calmly up at the stars. My anger dissipates the longer I look at them, a small smile beginning to grow on my face. That is, until I hear a familiar (and currently unwanted) voice.

"Stargazing. That's your thing? Seriously?" I turn my head sharply, my smile dropping as I see the Mandalorian himself walking towards me. I guess he didn't want to wait until morning to look for me. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't hear him coming.         

"Judgmental, much?" I snap as I sit up, not liking that he interrupted what's normally a calming, peaceful thing for me. "And yes, when you've been through what I have, it's nice to have a minute to just breathe. Unfortunately, mine is over, so I'll be going now." Standing up and brushing my clothes off a bit, I begin to walk past him but he grabs my arm as I do so. Not being able to help myself, I flinch.

I feel his grip loosen ever so slightly, but he keeps his hand on my upper arm.

"I'm... sorry." I raise a brow in questioning, quite surprised that he's even apologizing but also wondering why. He avoids looking at me as he continues speaking. "I didn't mean to... sound rude or anything. I get it, trauma has its effects. And, earlier, I'm sorry for yelling. I know you're still my bounty and I'm still turning you in and all, but I'm not trying to make your life before Nevarro hell. You'll have enough of that when you get there." He lets go of me rather abruptly, stepping away to make some space between us, and it's then that I realize how close we'd been standing. I nod with furrowed brows, a bit confused as to why he suddenly cares, but showing that I accept his apology nonetheless.  

"And you can sleep outside. But don't go far and please, don't take my shit." he turns and walks back to the Ugnaught's home.

I call after him halfheartedly, "Roger that."

>>>>><<<<<

In the morning we all mount our blurrgs, and it's about an hour's ride over the uneven terrain to get to where we need to go.

"Are you sure I can't come with you?" I whine, wanting to be a part of the action.

"I still don't trust you." he refuses.

"Oh, come on, you trusted me last night." I point out, but he only shakes his head. I huff. "Fine."

Looking around at the pale sands, I begin to feel uneasy as I start to recognize certain landmarks. The shapes of the mountains, a couple of cacti here and there, certain splits in the rock. And then it clicks. We're nearing the place I used to live.

 When I escaped my old slave master, I robbed him. I stole all of his credits and as many belongings of his that I could, and then took his ship. When I basically crashed here, on Arvala-7, a group of people took me in. They trained me, taught me everything I needed to know. I lived with them for years, made myself a home here. This is where I brought my companion. I left him here, with the only people I could trust. I hope to everything divine that we're not about to attack my old family.

I suck in a breathe as we arrive. The Ugnaught and Mandalorian begin to speak, but I don't pay them any attention. I dismount my blurrg unsteadily, falling to my knees at the onslaught of memories that flood my mind. It's too much. I tried to forget about this place long ago because attachments are never good in this universe. They only lead to trouble and hurt. But as much as I try, I could never forget about the people here, the home I had. The woman who became like my sister. Maker, I miss them so much.

"Nova?" Mando's voice reaches my ears. He's crouching in front of me as I try to hold back tears. I hardly ever cry. I don't like it. It shows weakness, and I can't afford to be weak. I wipe away a stray tear and lift my head, looking directly into his visor and hopefully straight into his eyes.

"I know this place. I'm coming with you." I speak with determination. He doesn't argue, only nods and leads me to a dune where we can observe.

We crouch, laying flat on our stomachs as we watch the few people in the small area. My heart aches at the familiarity of it all, but I ignore it. I need to focus. The sooner I find out who wants to kill me, the better, and that requires getting the asset and getting out of here.

The Mandalorian sighs audibly. "Oh, no. Bounty droid." He passes his scope to me, and I see that he's right. Damn, those things are annoying. But something in his tone sounded... extra annoyed.

"You got a thing for droids?" I ask, one brow raised.

"Maybe. You don't?" he counters, as if it should be a normal thing to hate droids.

"I don't mind them. Bounty droids, though, those are little pricks." He nods in agreement. I might hate droids, seeing as they only get in the way most of the time, if it weren't for the droid that helped me escape my master. I learned afterward that it got destroyed for helping me, and I'm eternally grateful to it. But that's the only droid I've ever really liked. 

 "Well, what are we waiting for?" I question, jumping as the bounty droid begins shooting. He shrugs.

"Can't get any worse. There just had to be a bounty droid, didn't there?" Mando sighs once more as the doors begin to close. I know from experience that those are extremely hard to get past.

"Yeah, we need to go." We run together down the sand, myself almost tripping but managing to stay upright and get to the bottom of the dune without falling.

I watch as the bounty droid expertly guns down person after person, the ache in my heart growing stronger. I don't recognize any of these people, but are these the same ones that took me in all those years ago? Or has someone else taken their place? Much to my dismay, it's impossible to tell until I get inside.

"IG Unit, stand down!" Mando runs toward the droid, fob in hand, only to get shot like everyone else. Thankfully, it only hits his Beskar and not his body. I haul him to his feet as he hollers at the droid, "I'm with the Guild!"

The droid pauses. "You are a guild member?" It says monotonously.

They continue speaking, the Mandalorian proposing they split the bounty and work together. I watch their backs as they talk, throwing knives of light at anybody who comes near to us. We fight our way through many people, but soon we're surrounded.

"I didn't know this place could hold so many people," I gasp, shrieking as I almost get my head shot off and a chunk of the wall becomes charred next to my face. Mando pulls me to the other side of him, further from the line of fire. Occasionally, I peek around the corner and throw knives, but it becomes increasingly difficult to do so while they shoot at us. 

Mando and the droid argue about the droid self-destructing, and then come to an agreement that we'll be shooting our way out. Since I don't have a gun, I guess I'll try my best with just my knives. I haven't really perfected making blasters out of light yet.

They turn around and jump out from behind the column, only to rush back to cover moments later, informing me about a cannon being brought out. I sigh. I really didn't think I was going to die today.

They begin shooting with the cannon, chipping away at the columns we hid behind. A shot grazes my arm, causing me to inhale sharply. The column is too narrow now for both Mando and I to fit side-by-side. 

Mando seems to notice this as well, because he slowly places his hand on my arm so I don't flinch, and moves me in front of him. My back presses up against cool Beskar armor, and he's almost hugging me to him. I'm surprised at the contact, but I keep quiet.

"Beginning self-destruct countdown." the droid says from beside us, causing us to snap our heads to it at the same time.

"No! Stop it." Mando scolds as shots fly past us. He instructs the robot to draw fire while he positions himself to take out the cannon.

In a blur of events, Mando takes control of the cannon using a sort of mini grappling hook, shooting all of the enemies in sight. The droid gets hit but informs us that he'll be fine.

"Find a way inside. I'll look for stragglers out here." I instruct Mando and the droid.

"I don't think-" Mando begins to object, but I cut him off swiftly.

"I won't leave. We've been over this. Go." after a moment's hesitation the man nods, and I run to look for any leftover enemies. I hear shots echoing off of the empty walls as they shoot down the door to the compound.

Scanning the bodies, I'm relieved when I find that I don't recognize any of these people. I then search the area, finding only one person still alive. He doesn't remain that way much longer.

I make my way back to the entrance cautiously, still unsure if I missed anyone. But it doesn't matter when I hear a single shot reverberate throughout the area. I break into a run, worried that something went wrong. But when I get inside, what I see shocks me to my very core.

The IG unit is on the floor, a blaster hole in its head. A man lies on the floor, slowly moving himself to the wall. He's still alive, although looks unarmed. But that's not what I'm worried about. Mando stands in front of a painstakingly familiar hovering cradle, an arm outstretched to the creature inside. Slowly, carefully, with nerves twisting in my stomach, I walk around Mando to get a view of the creature and my heart stops. 

 That's when the dam breaks, and my bottled up emotions come flooding free. I put a hand over my mouth to suppress the choked sob, but it doesn't do much. Mando's head snaps towards me, his hand jerking back to his side, but I ignore him, all of my attention on the tiny green creature in front of me. The Child I was sent to kill but couldn't go through with it, the one that got me captured and kicked out of the Guild for good. The one that an entire village, including a selfless mother and her two innocent children, were willing to sacrifice their own lives for because they knew he was important. The Child I saved and brought here years ago, leaving him in a place I thought he'd be safe in with people I trusted.

I step forward, and his big brown eyes land on me. He coos quietly, a smile appearing on his features. He remembers me. His arms reach up to me, a gesture that I know. I comply, picking him up and hugging him close to me, burying my face in the little robe I remember so well. When I pull away there are tears rolling down my cheeks, but with all of the memories bombarding me as I hold the Child safely in my arms, I couldn't care less.

A small green hand brushes softly against my cheek, a comforting gesture that I had come to cherish from the small being during the time I spent with him. I look into his doe eyes and laugh through my tears, exhilarated to have him back in my arms. I didn't trust myself to be able to protect him back when I left him, but now I know I can and will. I'll be damned if I let anything happen to this little bean. 

A groan sounds from the corner of the room, where the man I saw on my way in sits. The situation comes rushing back to me, and it's no longer just me and the Child. I set him gently back in my cradle, wiping my tears and composing myself before summoning a knife of light and stalking over to the man. Crouching in front of him, I hold it to his throat.

"Where's Aurelia, asshole? Did you kill her?" I growl, my tone demanding. His eyes widen slightly in fear, but he says nothing. I press the knife mercilessly into his neck, and blood begins to flow. The man winces. "Answer me!"

"She's not h-here. Died before we came. P-Protecting that." he points at the cradle. Clearly delusional, he laughs, blood gurgling grotesquely in his throat. "Killed. By a bounty hunter." he mocks, a sneer on his dying face. I feel my own face pale. It's my fault the woman who trained me, who became like a sister, is now dead. I gave her the asset that lead the bounty hunters to her. But I can't focus on that now.

I narrow my eyes, stabbing him in the neck and allowing the knife to dissolve. Quickly standing again, I rush back over to the cradle and pick up the baby, whispering apologies in his large ears and stroking his face. He closes his eyes and I lean my forehead against his, smiling when he giggles adorably. 

Suddenly, I remember that Mando is still in the room. I raise my head, looking to him, and the baby turns and looks at him as well. "So, this was the asset?"

"Yes. They said fifty years old, so I wasn't expecting..." he gestures to the cradle and the Child. I nod in understanding. When I was sent after him, I hadn't been expecting such a fragile little thing, either. "You know it?" Mando inquires.

"Yeah. This is the kid I betrayed the Guild for. I wasn't given an option to turn him in alive, and I couldn't bring myself to kill him." I look to the Child, who coos up at me. I smile, before turning again to Mando. "Well, we should go."

"Right." he leads the way out of the compound, taking control of the Child's pod as I carry the little baby on my hip.

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