Aria

The Harvest Festival could be heard from a mile away, the Jawas were shrieking and dancing around the fire to the beat of their drums. There was a huge bonfire lit, throwing sparks around their huge Sandcrawler which sat in the sand at a halt. Jawa women and the younglings were scattered around, chatting and snickering in their high voices as the men roasted meat in long spits over a smaller campfire.

The Jawa guards lifted their blasters when they saw me but lowered them when I was recognized from the day before, chattering excitedly and pulling me closer to the fire.

For half an hour, I sat and listened to the conversation and their stories while the Jawas traded and haggled the price. A Jawa woman poked me in the side and handed me a plate of cooked meat and dried bread. I thanked her and ate with them, smiling at their lively voices and answering the younglings fervent questions.

Suddenly I heard a squeal from the side of the camp and several Jawas leapt to their feet, jabbering and racing off into the dark towards the outskirts. I rose and followed them, catching a few words here and then as I made my way out of the firelight.

I stood behind three Jawas as they pointed their blasters into the dark menacingly and I drew my own weapon, feeling that someone was out there in the night.

"Tell your friends to lower their weapons," I jumped at the familiar rasp of The Mandalorian, "Before I change my mind and disintegrate them."

I holstered my weapon and pushed past the Jawas, searching in the dark as I let out a gasp of relief,

"Din!" My fingertips hit his Beskar armour and I wrapped my arms around him, "What are you doing here?"

He looked down at me and I could see his visor reflecting some of the campfire.

"I thought you'd be happy to see me."

"I am," I said, "But I think you also came to keep an eye on me."

"Maybe." He sounded casual but I heard the smile in his tone. I put an arm around him and led him to the circle, making the Jawas pad suspiciously out of the way but they didn't challenge him.

"Are you hungry?"

"No." He replied, looking around at the families and the festivities. "I'll eat later."

I turned at the sound of a flute and a tambourine joining the drums and several of the Jawas got up and began dancing in pairs. I had never seen this type of couple dancing before and it looked dreadfully funny, but I knew it was disrespectful to laugh at a culture.

A few of the male Jawas approached me and tried to get me to dance but I laughed and said I was too tall for them. That, and the low growl from the bounty hunter behind me made them scurry away. Suddenly, I thought of someone whom I was definitely not too tall to dance with. I slowly turned around and Din looked down at me, his right hand covering his blaster as always and his left arm hanging casually at his side.

"What?" He asked, a little irritably.

"You could ask me to dance." I suggested and he looked away towards the fire.

"No."

"Why not?" I pressed, standing and folding my arms.

"I don't dance."

"-with anybody but me." I finished and tugged at his hand, drawing him towards the circle of jumping Jawas. He pulled back at first but then stopped, laying his free hand on my elbow.

"Back here." Din nodded towards the outskirts of the camp where it was nearly pitch black and I let him lead me. I slipped one hand over his shoulder and extended the other arm out, which he took. Then slowly, albeit a little stiffly, he started swaying with me in the sand. After a few moments, Din dropped my hands and stepped back, making me freeze as I became disoriented in the darkness. Then I heard the hiss of his helmet coming off and I waited patiently until he came back to me, sliding both his arms around my waist and pulling me tight against him. I reached up, resting my arms over his shoulders as he stood with me in a fierce embrace.

"What are you thinking?" I whispered, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck and running my fingers through his thick hair which was growing rather long.

"Lots of things." He answered vaguely, although his body leaned into my touch. I could never get used to the way his voice sounded without the helmet on because everything attractive about it just amplified in real life.

"Good things?" I asked hopefully.

"Some good." He admitted, beginning to sway again.

I stretched on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek, finding the path of stubble down his jaw and following it with my lips.

"Aria?" Din turned his head to murmur in my ear, almost as if he were afraid to speak, his breath blowing my hair out of the way, "Do you ever wish...I could show you my face?"

I thought about it for a minute, wanting to be careful with the vulnerability and trust he was handing me in this moment. He waited patiently as always, still moving with me to the steady beat of the Jawas' drums and our heartbeats.

"Of course I do." I replied honestly, "But in a way...I sort of know what you look like."

Din pulled back from my body slightly and I could tell he was trying to search my face in the utter darkness.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," I planted a kiss on his cheek again as I explained, "I know you have at least three-day old stubble because you never shave. You have a mustache and a goatee, although I don't understand why you don't connect the three and make a full beard." Here Din chuckled but let me continue. "Your nose is slightly crooked," I moved to kiss the tip of his nose next, "-because someone broke it, but you won't tell me who."

"And I never will." The Mandalorian replied.

"You said you have dark eyes, so I imagine they're very dark since you have tan skin and dark, handsome hair." I threaded my fingers into his hair as I spoke and I almost felt his breathing stutter. "You have straight, strong teeth and smile lines in the corners of your eyes which you hate because it makes you feel old. But I love them, because it proves my theory that you smile a lot under that mask."

I press a kiss solemnly on his lips and he quickly takes control of the gesture, tightening his hands around me and angling his head to get deeper. When he pulls back, I'm holding onto him for dear life and I swear I see him smirking.

"Alright, I get it." He says seriously, "You fantasize a lot about me."

"Hey!" I smacked his chest lightly. "Seriously? That's all you got from that speech?"

"You don't deny it, so I'm right." The bounty hunter responds, almost triumphantly. Then his tone turns serious again as he kisses me, "Thank you, Aria. That-that means a lot to me."

"One more thing," I add as he pulls me somehow closer to him. "I know the consequences of taking the mask off in front of someone. I mean, showing your face to an outsider." Din stiffens as he listens. "I would never ask you to do that for me. Not in a million years. You mean more to me than finding out what you look like or what expressions you make." I take his head between both my hands, willing him to believe every word I say. "I would do anything for you...you know that, right?"

Din ponders on my words before answering,

"I know. And I would do the same for you." Somehow his words have hidden meaning in them and I don't have time to figure out if it's good or bad before Din is kissing me again, this time more insistent and urgent. Almost as if he were pouring his whole heart into the gesture.

Din needed to stop before this went further than he'd planned but somehow he couldn't pull away from the woman in front of him. She was breathing hard, her hands covering his as they cupped her cheeks, keeping her head still as he kissed her. He had taken off his helmet again, putting it in the sand between his legs so he knew exactly where it was. She had given a short but heartfelt speech when his vulnerable question popped out of his mouth and it had touched him. It also made it harder and harder to remain resolved in his decision to leave her on Arvala-7. Din knew he couldn't focus on keeping the kid safe in front of an Imperial when Aria remained at his side, and he needed his wits and his reflexes to be top notch when he returned to Nevarro.

He pulled back from Aria, crushing her against him as he closed his eyes and tried to remember this feeling. This feeling of security and passion, of trust and...love. They had never spoken of the subject but Aria had practically confessed her love for him just now and he hadn't affirmed it, not in the way she was probably hoping. Still, she was holding him and he was holding her and right now, that was all that mattered.

"I wish you would tell me what was wrong." Her voice broke Din's thoughts and he looked down at her, brushing her hair back softly over her shoulders.

"Nothing's wrong." He replied but he knew she didn't believe him.

"If it's about the kid, I know there's something we can do. You've kept him safe this long, haven't you?"
"I'm not worried about the kid."

"Then what are you worried about?" Her question was innocent; she had no idea what he was thinking. He was worried about her. Worried about losing her forever, one way or another. And he was worried what would happen if he did marry her, like his heart and soul ached to do.

"We should get back." Din released her gently, bending to put his helmet back on. Even with the armour, he felt completely naked in front of Aria who, as he was beginning to realize, was able to see right through him. He knew that she didn't appreciate the abrupt change of the subject but luckily she chose to overlook it, sighing and making her way back to the campfire to say goodnight to all her new friends.

They hardly spoke on the walk back to Kuiil's home, mostly because Din was afraid that if he started a conversation he would stay on this planet with Aria and never do anything else without her. The thought wasn't at all unpleasant to him, but as always he chose to mask his feelings and err on the side of caution. He wasn't sure when the last outsider was brought into the Mandalorian coven but as far as he knew, Mandalorians mated with other Mandalorians. This is the way.

"Kuiil thought you'd like a room of your own." He said softly as they bent through the small doorway, trying to be quiet as the rooms were dark and the sound of the child's soft snoring met their ears. Aria paused in the darkness but soon recollected herself, following The Mandalorian to a room in the back hall. He opened the door for her and watched as she set down her things and sat on the bed.

"That was kind of him." She answered, sounding weary.

"Cara Dune comes tomorrow...she caught a ride with some black market merchants so she won't have to worry about people running her chain card.""That's good." Aria's voice was on the opposite side of the room now and he heard the rustling of clothing so he turned to leave. "Din?"

He paused but didn't turn, afraid that if he glimpsed her skin he would do something to scare her.

"It's nothing." Aria hesitated, "Goodnight, Din."