"If he does come back, someday . . . No. I don't think he will . . . I'm sorry, mom and dad. I love you both . . . Is it recording? Thank you, Ruby . . ."

The recording hadn't stopped for the past five minutes, and Din made no move to turn it off. Hearing her voice in the cockpit felt familiar again, even if it was from someone who could despise him now. He'd asked for a copy of the recording from the Gardinale couple – who happily allowed it, and gave him other information they'd collected – and had looked for any clues in her words. It almost sounded like a death sentence at times – like she was searching for an entirely different kind of escape. It was an uneasy conclusion that he couldn't rule out until he found her and found out what happened. Her possible death wasn't something he was willing to accept.

The Child had moved from his makeshift cradle at least four times since they'd left, two of which to look at the hologram pictured on the dashboard. He seemed fascinated with it, almost as much as the ball. Before the Child could get any closer, however, Din would return him to his spot. He didn't need the Child touching any other buttons on the ship (again).

". . . you gave me everything and I feel guilty knowing . . ." It was obvious that Lili wasn't running away because of Carlisle and Aleika. Din knew that wasn't the case. Lili had run away because of him.

This day gets better and better. He checked the course to Tatooine, pleased to see they were making great time on the passage. At least he would have a start on tracking her down, and he already knew the first place he would search: the Dune Sea, specifically the old Hutt palace. He would see if any of the locals knew anything of her, or anyone of her description, even if he had his doubts about any information.

His hands balled into fists, unsettled with the strange worry and panic that had settled within. It made him uneasy with how much he cared about finding her again, but it was worse knowing that she had disappeared with only one trace of a hologram.

The worst scenarios passed in his head and it took a tremendous amount of energy to still them. He believed Lili was smart enough to handle herself. She could survive alone. She was a good enough fighter.

"It's how it's always—always—always—" The skip in the message caught his attention, and it faded to black, filling the cockpit with silence. He wondered if the file had become corrupted when he realized a signal from a nearby craft was attempting to communicate with the ship.

He already knew it wasn't anyone friendly.

Great. Din sighed heavily at the upcoming ship, and as the shots flew past the Razor Crest, the chase began.

He knew immediately it was another hunter in search of the Child as he took hold of the controls once more, his focus immediately turning to the more pressing matter at hand: escaping another mercenary.

Shots rained fire on the back of the Crest, shaking the cockpit. The Child made soft noises from where he was, and a static voice rang out from the panel.

"Hand over the child, Mando." Almost immediately after, a shot hit the left wing of his ship. Electricity sparked within the cockpit and alarms began to blare. "I might let you live."

He continued weaving in and out as another shot hit the back. Din didn't stop flying. He wasn't going to give up the Child in the middle of space to some bounty hunter, even at the risk of his ship.

He worked calmly, knowing any rash decisions would lead to their demise.

"Hold on," he said, and sent the ship into a barrel roll. Even as they went upright, the hunter hadn't ceased fire. It was growing difficult to shake him. "Come on."

"I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold." There was one move left that he could try.

Without warning, Din pulled on the control stick as hard as he could, stopping immediately. His helmet ricocheted off the back of the pilot's seat as he pulled again, hearing a loud scraping overhead of metal on metal before the small fighter jet was in front of his own ship.

"That's my line." The open fire immediately set fire to the craft, causing it to explode and kill the hunter within. Din felt very little remorse.

He turned, seeing that the Child was staring straight at him with his ears perked down.

"Sorry." He turned back, checking the course. He wasn't too far from Tatooine – he could see it in the distance - and it was just close enough to make within the hour. Resetting the course, Din checked the readings of the ship and internally cursed at all the damage to the ship. It wasn't going to be cheap to fix.

He began to work from within the cockpit immediately to do what he could. It didn't help that the ship was older than he was.

"Losing fuel." As the ship powered down and basked the space in darkness, the Child giggled from where he sat. Din glanced back at him, then stood up to activate the emergency switch at the back of the space. The control panel sprung back to life. Din focused his attention on getting to Tatooine as soon as possible.

When he was close enough to see the sandy surface of the planet, a communication came in.

"This is Mos Eisley Tower. We are tracking you. Head for bay three-five, over."

"Copy that. Locked in for three-five."

As the descent began, his gaze flicked over the landscape growing in size, over the wide expanses of desert and moisture farms. They looked the same as they had years ago, a fact that wasn't surprising by any means.

He landed in a small depot close to the edge of town, near Spacer's Row. He placed the sleeping Child in his quarters, then dropped the hatch off the ship.

The air was just as stifling as he remembered it to be, and the suns blazing bright in the sky. Almost instantly after he'd exited the back, three small pit droids began to move closer to the ship with their tools. He shot at the feet of one, and all three returned to their compact state with a little yell.

As he holstered his blaster, he heard someone yelling.

"Hey! Hey!" The pit droids popped back up and ran away from the ship and from him. "You damage one of my droids, you'll pay for it!"

A woman in a mechanic's suit stepped out from the dingy office of the depot. She had curly dark hair and hardened brown eyes, with an angry look over her features.

"Just keep them away from my ship." The mechanic approached as the pit droids scrambled to hide.

"Yeah?" She looked up at the smoking ship. "You think that's a good idea, do ya? Let's look at your ship."

She held a holo-board in one hand as she moved closer to inspect the damage. She hit the side of the ship, hearing a hollow sound.

"Oof. Look at that." She pulled out a reader, holding it up with a furrow between her brow. "Ugh, you've got a lot of carbon scorin' building up top." She moved closer. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were in a shootout."

Din stayed quiet as she continued her analysis.

"Special tool for that one. I'm gonna have to rotate that. You've got a fuel leak. Look at that. This is a mess. I'll have to call in Dru just for parts! How did you even land? That's gonna set you back."

She turned back to look at him.

"I've got 500 imperial credits." He held them out, and the mechanic stared.

"That's all you got?" It didn't stop her from taking them. She turned to look at the pit droids, watching their interaction quietly. "Well, what do you guys think?"

The droids let out a series of quick noises Din assumed meant 'no'. The mechanic looked to them, to the credits, and back to the ship.

"That should at least cover the hangar. Maybe my scavenger." She eyed him up and down carefully.

"I'll get you your money." From the way she stood, he could tell she didn't believe a word of what he was saying.

"Hmm. I've heard that before." A brief silence passed.

"You get any transport ships here from Naboo, by chance?" The mechanic eyed him again.

"We take personal ships at this depot. Transport ships from Naboo come through Mos Espa. Long ways from here." Din kept the information in the back of his mind.

"Just remember—"

"Yeah, no droids. I heard ya. You don't have to say it twice."

As Din turned to depart the depot, he heard the mechanic ordering one of the droids to get Dru, who he assumed was either a scavenger or another mechanic. Either way, the pit droid sent after them eased around him slowly, afraid of being shot at again, before sprinting off in a random direction. Din found it amusing as he began his walk into the town.

Not only did he need to find Lili, but he needed to find work to pay for the repairs. He wasn't sure which way the palace was located, but he would find it.

The town was mostly empty as he walked, and it was quiet. As he turned a corner and saw multiple Stormtrooper helmets on spikes, he had a faint idea as to why. Things hadn't been the same in Mos Eisley since the Empire fell, even if it was still a haven for criminals.

Din tried to remember the path had taken out of town to the palace, but it wasn't as easy as he expected. All the buildings looked the same, and his tracking fob hadn't worked since he arrived on the ground. Using his sensors would be useless – he didn't even know where she could be within the town, or if she had been in that area. Hell, he wasn't even sure if she was still on Tatooine.

He shook the thoughts away, his confidence returning in full force as he walked towards a local cantina. If he couldn't catch his bearings yet, he would at least ask around.

The cantina was empty and quiet, with a small amount of light from the doorway he entered and in dingy lights all around. Aliens of all species had indistinct conversations around the place, and as he walked towards the oval bar, an old white droid carrying a drink tray stopped.

Din walked to the bar, straight to the droid bartender. He heard the white droid begin whirring as it stopped close to him, but he took no notice.

"Hey droid, I'm a hunter. I'm looking for a girl. Young, dark hair. Goes by Lili. Have you seen her?"

Immediately, the white droid next to him began to react noisily. Din drew his attention to it, studying the fading red and blue paint as he realized it was a decommissioned astromech droid.

"What's the droid saying?" Din asked.

"He is demanding that you leave." Din's attention peaked.

"Does he know where I can find her?"

"He says no. He says he does not like Mandalorians." Din rested his hand on his blaster, in view of the droid. As if understanding, the droid backed up a few paces, but didn't take its attention from Din.

"I'm looking for some extra work."

"Unfortunately, the Bounty Guild no longer operates from Tatooine."

"I'm not looking for guild work."

"I am afraid that does not improve your situation, at least by my calculation."

I hate droids.

"Think again, Tin Can," came a voice from a nearby booth. Din turned, spotting a young man with dark hair sitting nearby, watching the interaction with his feet propped up. "If you're looking for work, have a seat, my friend. Maybe I have some information you're looking for."

Din made no move.

"Name's Toro. Toro Calican." He motioned to the spot across from him. "Come on, relax. That description matches some rumors I've heard around here."

Din looked back at the bartender, then to Toro. He had gotten no more than two steps before the white droid dropped its tray, zipping past him faster than any droid he'd ever seen. Din considered shooting him, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

"I hate droids," he said under his breath, and Toro sat up straighter as Din sat down.

"Tell me what you know."

"There's no bounty pucks for her that I know of, but I've heard some mercenaries are interested in finding someone like that. But that's not the job I'm talking about."

"What do you know about her?" Toro raised his eyebrows.

"Let's talk this job first. Then, I'll tell you what you want." Din balled his hands, but contained his irritation. Toro placed a bounty puck on the table, and a female face illuminated from it.

"Picked up this Bounty Puck before I left the Mid Rim. Fennec Shand, an assassin. Heard she's been on the run ever since the New Republic put all her employers in lockdown," Toro explained.

"I know the name." Din knew about the ex-assassin, and he was growing skeptical with each second.

"I followed this tracking fob here." He slid the device onto the table. "Now the positional data suggests she's headed out beyond the Dune Sea. Should be an easy job."

Din didn't want to waste his time with the overconfident kid.

"Well, good luck with that." He stood up to leave, ready to return to his initial mission.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hey. I thought you needed work?" Toro asked.

"How long have you been with the Guild?" Din turned to look at him.

"Long enough." He's a rookie.

"Clearly not. Fennec Shand is an elite mercenary. She made her name killing for all the top crime syndicates, including the Hutts." It wasn't long after that statement Din came to a startling realization.

Shennec had worked for and knew the Hutts during the age of the Empire. Lili had been a slave there, and a slave for Rinnrivin. If Shennec was heading out to and past the Dune Sea, where Din was sure Lili was hiding, it made the situation even more complicated than before.

Shennec might try to kill Lili. He realized he hadn't spoke as he thought.

"If you go after her, you won't make it past sunrise." And neither will she.

He wasn't going to wait any longer. He turned to walk again, but Toro's next words stopped him.

"I can tell you more of what I know about that girl. Her name's Lili, right?" Din froze, realizing he should have never said her name aloud. "This is my first job. I'll tell you what you want. You can keep the money, all of it. I just need this job to get into the Guild. I can't do it alone."

Din thought for a few seconds before deciding it was an opportunity to complete both tasks at once.

"Meet me at hangar three-five in half an hour. I expect you to tell me everything you know. Bring two speeder bikes and give me the tracking fob." Toro looked between Din and the tracking fob, then hit it against the cantina wall. Din stared at him, immediately noting to keep his guard up moreso than usual.

"Don't worry, I got it all memorized."

"Half an hour." Din set out immediately.

"Looks like you're stuck with me now, partner."

He headed back to the depot to get his items for the job, trying to clear his head from the concern he felt. He had never gotten along well with the feeling – it always got in the way of his work – and it was proving to be another hindrance, especially as he reentered the depot a few minutes later.

The depot had looked normal, at first. A gonk droid waddled nearby, and there was silence. Then, he spotted the same droid from the cantina beeping wildly near a pile of unused ship parts, and there was someone else at the side of the ship.

The Ubese was taller than any of the species he'd seen in his lifetime, and dressed in the traditional bounty hunting uniform with a large helmet over their head. A tall staff was attached to their back and other weapons on their belt.

Din froze, his weapon already removed before the Ubese lifted a gloved hand to touch the metal surface.

"Get the hell away from my ship." He aimed his weapon at the helmet, knowing one shot would be all it took. The hand froze, and the silence of the depot was broken by the droid whirring nearby.

Din glanced to the inside of his ship, and immediately seeing that the hatch to his quarters was open, he tightened his grip. The Child was gone.

"So it is you," came a response through a deep, guttural filter.

"Get away from my ship before I kill you." The Ubese slowly lowered their hand, took a step away, and reached for the staff. Din's shot bounced from the staff just inches from the helmet, hitting a nearby crate as the Ubese held it out threateningly.

"Where is it?" he asked, but the Ubese made no move, waiting for the next shot to come.

"Hey! Hey!" Neither turned as Peli ran from the office, the Child in her arms. "No shoot-outs in my shipyard, got it?"

Neither moved. Din could feel the anger and the hatred seeping from the Ubese, and he hoped it felt his own.

"Quiet!" They both heard the Child crying, and Din's gaze flicked to see it in the mechanic's arms. "Oh, it's okay. You both woke it up! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get it to sleep?"

Din was the first to turn, and a few seconds later, the Ubese followed suit. Neither released their weapons, or moved them from their positions. A deep sound came from the Ubese.

"Give him to me," Din demanded.

"Not so fast. You can't just leave a child all alone like that!" She came closer and the Ubese's helmet never turned away from the mechanic and the Child. The mechanic scoffed. "Put your weapons down! Dru, he's a customer. A paying customer."

"I know exactly what he is."

"You don't know anything about me." The mechanic looked between them again, then to the Child.

"You know, you have an awful lot to learn about raisin' a young one." Din remained silent. "Dru's not a bounty hunter, if that's what you're thinkin'. Not unless you do side work."

Din's gaze slowly turned back to the Ubese, finding that its gaze was already on him. There was another deep sound from the mask.

"I'm not like you," the Ubese spoke slowly. Even as Din took a step towards him, he didn't flinch away or make a move.

"Hey! Stop! Dru's one of my best scavengers! I called him in to help – we started to repair the fuel leak."

The mechanic went to a machine and clicked a few buttons to offer proof. Slowly, the Ubese was the first to lower his weapon, his helmet turning towards the droid at the entrance of the depot with a wagon full of various scavenged parts.

Din stared at the droid, knowing he should have shot it when he had the chance.

The ship whirred.

"There you go. I had a couple of setbacks I want to talk to you about." Din walked back onto the ship, aware of the Ubese watching his every move. "You know, I didn't use any droids, as requested, so it took us a lot longer than expected."

As he exited the ship with his bag, he saw the Ubese staring at the Child once again, hands balled tightly around the staff. The droid came to rest close to it, making quiet chirps.

"But I figured you were good for the money since you have an extra mouth to feed." The Child cooed and reached out a hand towards the Ubese, who tilted the helmet. As the droid moved closer, Din placed his hand back over his holstered blaster.

In less than a second, the Ubese spoke, "Don't. Even. Try."

The mechanic broke the tension by leaning down to see the parts in the wagon.

"See? My friend Dru brought more parts." Peli picked one up, examining it. "As I see it, it looks like they've brought all the parts your ship needs. Not easy to match parts for a Razor Crest."

A thick silence remained as the mechanic stood straight again, looking between the two. She seemed to be gauging the interaction as if she knew something he didn't.

The Ubese broke the silence first as they held out a gloved hand. The mechanic frowned.

"Not one for talking today?" The Ubese tilted its head, the mechanic scoffed, and the Imperial credits Din had given her landed into its hand. "Already losing the credits I made today."

The Ubese looked at the credits, then to Din, and dropped them back into the mechanic's hand.

"I'll hold off on payment, Peli." He looked over at Din. "I don't want any credits this one has touched."

"Have you two met before? Is that why there was almost a shootout?" Peli asked, looking between the two. "Well?"

"I've never met this man. If I had, I would wish I never did," the Ubese responded, then looked to his droid, which hadn't stopped making noise for the past few minutes. One look made it fall silent.

"And where's your owner, Skips?" Peli asked, smiling at the droid. "Where'd she run off to now? She's usually with you, ain't she?"

"He's mine now." The Ubese spoke quickly – too quickly.

"When will she return? She left her satchel here." Din's head immediately perked up, as did the Ubese's. The grip on the staff tightened even more.

"She won't be back."

"Who are you talking about?" Din asked immediately, and slowly, the helmet turned. All of the worst scenarios began to return to his mind again.

"Wouldn't you like to know." It was taunting. It was the last straw.

The Ubese didn't fight him as Din grabbed him by the scruff of his collar, pulling him the few inches to eye level.

"What did you do to her? What did you do to her?" The Ubese dropped the staff into one hand, using the free one to twist his wrist. The Ubese dropped back onto its feet and as Din advanced, Peli stepped in again.

"That's enough!"

"He knows something about my foundling." The Ubese stared at him.

"She is not your foundling. She told me so." Peli held out a hand to stop Din, but it didn't stop the gun from pointing at the Ubese's helmet again. "Go look for her. I know that is why you came."

"Dru, you need to leave. I won't need your assistance for the rest of the day," Peli said quickly, and looked over at him. The Ubese paused for a moment, then placed the staff on its back again. Din holstered his gun but didn't remove the gaze.

"Be expecting a visit from me very soon." The Ubese looked at him one last time, and he could still sense the emotion rolling from him.

"If you can find me." As the Ubese began to walk away with his shoulders back, Din had the overwhelming urge to end his life then and there. He wanted nothing more than to kill the hunter that had done something to Lili.

When the Ubese and the droid were out of sight, Din turned angrily towards Peli.

"Why the hell did you let him go? What did he do to Lili?" he asked, and Peli searched the helmet quizzically. Then, she looked down at the Child.

"Dru wouldn't do anything to Lili."

"How the hell would you know?"

"Dru don't normally take that way to strangers. If anythin', it's you I'm concerned about." Din stood straighter. "He hasn't done a thing to Lili."

"Do you know her?" Peli didn't bring her eyes from the Child.

"Yes." She looked back up and Din felt mild relief, knowing that she had, in fact, been on Tatooine. It was likely that she was still there. "Her and that droid, Skips, came here. Delivered parts and whatnot."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Peli paused.

"Not long ago—"

"How long ago?"

"I don't know. Couple of weeks." Din went silent for a few seconds. "Why're you asking so many questions about that girl, anyways?"

From the look in Peli's eyes, she seemed to already know. Her next words confirmed what he thought.

"It's you. You're the Mandalorian she mentioned." Din was startled, and somewhat weary. "She told me a little about her Mandalorian friends. You seem to fit the description of one she spoke the most of." Peli looked him up and down. "Hate to break it to ya, but she did not speak well of you at all. Whatever you did made her angrier than a cheated Tuskan."

Din remained silent. He didn't want to imagine the things she had said about him, even if he believed he deserved every word.

"I know. She has every right to be," he said, then looked at the Child. "But I need to make sure she's safe again."

Peli seemed to think on his words, knowing more than she would let him see.

"You sure you want to find her?" Peli asked lowly.

"Yes."

Peli paused, then sighed. She walked towards the office of the depot and Din followed, waiting outside until she came back out. In her free hand, she was carrying the familiar brown satchel Lili had always carried.

Din took it carefully, feeling another flood of too many emotions, some of which he couldn't describe or fathom. He immediately opened the bag and saw there were multiple contents within, some of which he recognized immediately, and others he didn't, such as a bottle of perfume and an ornate hairbrush. It was, without a doubt, Lili's bag.

"Haven't seen anyone drag her out or off Tatooine. She's still here. It's possible she's still in the Dune Sea, at that old palace outside town. You follow the road that way and it's a straight-shot there. But I know there's another place she mentioned – a safehouse near Kerner Plaza. Best bets for finding her would be those spots." Peli looked guilty as she released the information to him, and hesitant. Din wasn't even sure if the information could be a trap, but he knew the only way to find out was to search.

"Thank you." Peli eyed him again as he began walking from the depot, tucking her satchel into his own bag.

"Don't thank me. That girls needs to go home, wherever that is."

"I know." They followed the same path the Ubese had out of the depot.

"So, you got a job?" Din didn't respond as the door slid open from the depot. "You know, it's cost me a lot of money to keep these droids even powered up."

There was no sign of the droid or the Ubese.

"Hey, Mando. What do you think?" Din turned his attention to Toro, who was at the designated meeting spot with two rusted speeder bikes. "Not too shabby, huh?"

He hadn't expected much from the rookie, but the speeders looked rough. Din remained silently as he placed the bag on the back of the speeder, then studied it. Toro seemed to sense his skepticism.

"What'd you expect? This ain't Corellia." Toro took notice of Peli and the Child, nodding to them. "Ma'am."

"Tell me what you know."

"You really aren't one for conversation, are you?" Din continued to stare. He'd had enough. "All I know are the rumors. They say there's a girl in the Dune Sea that can do things. Not sure what that means. No one's gotten a name from her, but it's Lili. Heard some rumors she worked for Rinnrivin. Some mercenaries are looking to recruit her, others are looking to hand her over to Rinnrivin's factions."

Is it possible Rinnrivin knows she's still alive? Din tensed at the thought.

"I've been here a few weeks now, never saw her for myself. No one's seen the girl for a week or two. Three max. Rumors are that there's some mercenaries that got her."

Din's head felt like it was pounding. It was too much of a coincidence that the same Ubese who he suspected had gotten to Lili had come to his ship, and that the droid from the Cantina was connected to him. There were ears everywhere in Mos Eisley. He should've remembered that.

Focus. His intuition was becoming too clouded.

"We'll leave tomorrow afternoon." Toro's face fell as he looked at Din, who continued checking the bike.

"Tomorrow? But I'm here now." Din stared at him, watching the various expressions cross his face.

"We need time to form a course of action. Go prepare for tomorrow," he said. Toro hesitated for a few seconds.

"What am I supposed to do with these?" he asked, motioning to the speeders. Din looked back at Peli, who sighed.

"Leave them here," she said, and Toro stood silently for a few more seconds before shaking his head.

"Immediately in the afternoon." Toro turned, shaking his head, and left the depot.

"Tomorrow?" Peli asked.

"I'll be back tonight." Din slung one leg over the cruiser, starting the engine. "I'm going to find her."

He didn't waste another minute as he sped down the path in the direction of the Dune Sea.