A/N Happy 30th Birthday to me! Here is another chapter for you! Leave me a comment, they make me so happy.

Chapter 35

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Blinking awake the next morning, Omera was relieved to see Din still sound asleep. They'd hardly shifted in the night, unusual for both of them and an indication of how deeply they must have slept. His arms still held her to him, but for the first time in weeks he hadn't woken to nightmares or been kept awake by unnamed anxiety. He looked so peaceful and rested, she didn't want to wake him, but she needed to pee.

"Din…" She whispered his name, her breath stirring the hair that had grown too long and hung in his face. "Din, sweetheart wake up." When he only tightened his hold on her and nuzzled into her hair, she laughed softly. "Din I have to pee. Let go."

This time his legs wrapped around hers and he grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'I don't want to' as his lips brushed the back of her neck. Omera laughed louder and jabbed her elbow into his rips just enough to annoy him. He grunted and grabbed her arm.

"Alright, if you must." Leaning over her, Din captured her lips in a brief but searing kiss before rolling onto his back letting her go. Omera threw him an exasperated smile over her shoulder as she dug in her pack for something to wear. Tucking one arm behind his head, he watched her move around the room. "Mesh'la." Hearing his whispered comment, she tugged on her shirt and leaned over the bed to kiss him again before she sat to pull on her pants.

"You should get up too. Although…" She paused and looked back at him again, frowning slightly. "I actually have no idea what time it is. How long are the days here?"

Rubbing his hands over his eyes, Din sat up and reached over the edge of the bed for his black compression pants. "Hmm.. 24 hours I think. Here…" He grabbed one of his vambraces off the floor and pushed a few buttons before a holo chrono display appeared. "There. It's seven in the morning. We slept in."

Ignoring her shoes, she huffed a laugh and tossed Din a shirt. "Hardly. But Winta will be up soon and we probably have a full day ahead." He sighed but smiled after her as she hurried into the fresher.

When she walked back into the main room—fingers deftly braiding her hair—Din was dressed and standing in the main room beside Winta and his piled beskar. His chest and back plates were in place and Winta had one of his pauldrons in her hands. Passing it to him, she smiled at Omera.

"Morning Momma!"

"Good morning." She stepped around them, patting Winta's hair as she headed for her shoes when there was a knock at their door. Waving Din away, she answered it. Skord stood on the other side, hands folded behind his back. When he met her eye, he smiled.

"Omera, good morning! Just the person I wanted to see. I hope your family slept well?"

She smiled back at him. "We did, thank you."

He glanced around her into the room and nodded to Din before looking back to her. "I hope you will both join me for breakfast in my quarters. As I mentioned last night, I have much I would like to discuss with you."

Eyes landing on Winta, Omera thought something in his eyes shifted but his smile never faltered. "The children usually eat together before morning lessons if Winta would like to join them. They're learning about Tarre Vizsla and the history of the Mand'alor this week. I set the lessons myself, I thought they should understand the importance of your coming to us and what it will mean for our future."

Omera nodded but Winta dashed over, vambrace in hand, and beamed up at them. "Can I go? That sounds cool!"

"Hey, I need that." Din joined them and took his vambrace from her with an amused half smile. "Sure you can. We won't go anywhere without you, ok?"

With a quick hug to both of them and a respectful nod to their guest, she dashed off to a small group of children gathered not far from their door.

"I'll give you some time to finish getting ready for the day and see you for breakfast?"

They agreed and Skord left them alone again. Din sighed and leaned back against the wall as he fastened his vambrace. "Full day… that was likely an understatement. I still haven't met the rest of his elders and I'd like to check on Migs later. And… I suppose I should send Bo-Katan a transmission. Let her know we're here and ask about anyone else she's found."

He looked exhausted already and he hadn't even been up an hour. Omera braced her hands on his chest and looked into his eyes. "Cara and I can check on Migs. And as to Bo-Katan, I don't see why you need to contact her today. Unless you want her to show up here before you know what you want to do. Let's finish getting dressed and see what else Skord has to say. If you still want to contact Bo-Katan, I can stop by the ship when Cara and I go to town and do that too if you'd like."

Laughing softly, he leaned and kissed her. "What would I do without you? Maybe if you do that I'll have time to train with Winta. It's been days. They might have lessons together but training is always something you do with your buir."

Skord had wanted to send them with an escort. Cara had outright laughed at him but Omera had only quietly reminded him that even though she was a medic, she had received the same advanced combat training as the elite troopers at the Imperial academy. But she knew that even though he would never say so, it made Din nervous for her to leave without him too. She was capable all on her own, but she was also seven months pregnant with his youngest child. So with a smirk and a kiss, she let him strap a blaster to her hip and they left.

By the time she and Cara made it to the clinic in town, it was well into the afternoon. Minnedal didn't seem to be in so they stepped through the smaller room where they'd left Migs. Omera wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but catching Migs and the young Mandalorian in the middle of a game of sabacc was not it.

Migs was sitting up, a large tray across his legs, and Asta was perched on the side of the bed across from him. They were so engrossed in their game, Cara and Omera stood and watched them for a solid minute before Asta noticed them. Both women stood by the door, arms crossed with matching smirks as Asta leapt from the bed just a little too quickly.

When he caught their expressions, Migs rolled his eyes and huffed but he couldn't hide the faint blush. Asta crossed the room and took the pack from Omera as Cara slung herself into the vacant seat.

"We brought lunch, thank you Asta. How are you feeling this morning, Migs?"

He helped her push the tray to the foot of the bed, careful not to disturb the game, and sighed. "Just fine, thank you Mera. How long do you think I'll be laid up like this?"

Omera pulled back the top layers of bandages around his knee to inspect the wound. As expected, the bacta had already healed the incisions. Nothing looked infected or swollen more than normal.

"Well, it looks like it's healing fine. You just need to give the repaired tissue a chance to heal fully before you start trying to walk but don't worry. You should be back to normal soon."

She smiled and started to re-bandage his knee. He nodded as he watched her work. "Good. I don't want to be stuck in bed forever. Thanks, for doing the surgery."

"Of course, Migs."

Glancing around the room, he nodded at the pack Asta held. "You said you brought food?"

Asta stepped up to her side and opened the pack. "Here, Omera." As Omera dug in the pack for food, Asta found her voice. "So what do you think of the covert? Did you see my uncle this morning? I know he wanted to talk to you. What did he want to talk to you about?"

Omera handed Migs some food and met Asta's curious eyes with a patient smile. "The covert is fine. A little dark but secure… safe. And yes, Din and I had breakfast with your uncle, and spent several hours discussing my past, any connections I may have in the New Republic and what Din is going to do next."

Interjecting into the conversation, Cara took the food Omera handed her. "I'm glad this guy has more sense than Bo-Katan. If you have a personal relationship with Princess Leia I would think you'd want to take full advantage. She was pretty important in the new government last I heard. Any help or hell even just acknowledging what you're doing as legitimate would be great."

Omera sighed as she took her own meal and sat on the foot of the bed. "I know. Din agrees with me and Skord was enthusiastic about sending us to Chandrila once we have a better idea of our numbers. But all of that depends on even being able to get in touch with her. It's been a decade since I've seen her. We became fairly close friends while we were on Hoth but…"

"How long do you think you'll stay with us?"

Studying Asta's overly casual expression as she ate, eyes flicking between Migs and herself, Omera was reminded of what Skord had said about her. Asta had not grown up in the biodome cities on Mandalore and the last twelve years in their underground covert were difficult for her. Her family, Skord's brother and his wife had been killed during the purge. She'd been fourteen at the time and in the twelve years since, become a skilled warrior.

When they had discussed finding more of their people and what Din wanted to do next, Skord's only request was that they take Asta. She could represent their clan and they had both agreed that having another Mandalorian along would be helpful when they found others. Omera knew Din found her enthusiasm a little irritating but they'd readily agreed.

"We're not sure. I'm going to send a transmission to Bo-Katan after this. Din wants to know how many others she's found and where they are. When she visited us a week ago she only gave us the location of your covert but she insinuated that she knew where more individuals or smaller groups might be. I'd imagine we'll be here at least a week."

She nodded and eyed Migs's leg. "Well… whatever you need, any way I can help. If you want me to stay here a few more days… I can do that. I know how boring it is being stuck here for days. Unless you want to move him. That is…"

When she focused intently on her meal, Omera glanced back to Migs. He had been awfully quiet. Noticing her arched brow, he held up his hands and frowned in question.

"What?"

She smirked but shook her head. "What are your plans, Migs? You never said what you were up to before you ran into that purple bitch."

He scoffed at her language but ran a hand along his beard. "Nothing really. Might as well hang around a while longer. At least until my knees back at one hundred percent."

"I'm sure Din will be happy to have you. Cara's staying with us too. And…" She caught his eye again before looking back to Asta. "Your Uncle asked Din if you could come with us when we leave."

The way her pretty green eyes lit up at the possibility made Omera glad she got to be the one to tell her. "Really? I mean, I would hate to leave my clan but… what would I have to do?"

Omera shrugged. "Oh you'll have to work that out with Din. Would you come?"

Asta looked around the room as if unsure what to say. "Ya… yes, thank you!"

Nodding and sharing a smirk with Cara over her shoulder, Omera sighed. "But I think for the next few days you should stay here. I don't want to move him until he's healed a little more. And I don't feel comfortable leaving him here alone. I know he can be rude but…"

"Hey, I resent that. I've been a perfect gentleman."

Laughing, she eyed their interrupted sabacc game. "Oh ya, I can see that. You definitely aren't cheating."

He glared at her. "I am not cheating, not that you would know. You were always terrible at this game."