A/N: Hello, welcome, and continued thanks! I really am amazed that folks are still finding my story. All the notifications for follows and reviews truly make my day. I seriously teared up after reading a few of them this time; it really means a lot to me. So ... here we go. We all know what this episode was called so buckle up. I hope you enjoy how I've added Alés in ... and trust me. Let me know what you think!

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Paul: Thank you! It really made my day when you said it seemed to flesh out the episode more.

8ball3: Thanks so much! Adding someone into something that already exists is not the easiest thing to do and I'm so glad you feel its working!

Cebellina: Oh my goodness thank you!

joey: Thank you so much! I enjoyed letting Alés finally encounter another Jedi and what that Jedi could help her with in the short time they're together. And it is amazing how much Din can convey even without showing his face.

Love: Thanks!

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Blah blah blah. You know the drill. All belongs to Disney, Lucas, Filoni, and Favreau.

"Grogu."

There was an answering babble and Din chuckled.

"Grogu."

Another coo and another chuckle. Alés bit her lip to keep her presence unknown; she was enjoying listening to their interaction. She'd left the cockpit to find something to eat but upon hearing what was going on between the two she'd stayed at the bottom of the ladder. These moments were precious. Din rarely let his softer side show so when it did emerge she didn't want to do anything to make him feel awkward or think he had to bottle it back up. Even in the relatively short time she'd known him she'd seen how he was becoming more … human, letting emotions show that he probably hadn't even acknowledged in years. There was a warmth in him that was being allowed to grow. It made her feel … she couldn't find words to describe it but she knew it made her happy to hear it. It was very odd and she once again struggled to understand this new sensation she was feeling.

"Give me the ball. Grogu, give me the ball." There were a couple disgruntled sounds from the little one. "Okay, here we go. You can have it, just like before."

She closed her eyes and focused on their voices. Slowly a vision of what was happening just out of her sight came to mind and she grinned.

"Grogu, come on. You can have it … come on." There was another small coo and then she could feel the child use the Force to grab the ball. There was a smack that sounded like Din slapping his palms on his thighs. "Dank farrik!"

There was a gurgle of distress and he hurried to reassure the kid that he was not mad at him, that he had done well.

"Hey, no. I'm not mad at you. You did good. I just … when the nice lady said you had training I just … " Din sighed. "You're very special, kid. We're going to find that place you belong and they're going to take real good care of you."

Alés rested her head against the rung of the ladder. The tremble in Din's voice brought tears to her eyes. She didn't think he was even aware of how much he had come to care for Grogu. And she knew what he had hoped when Ahsoka had said the child had training. He had hoped he wouldn't need more, that he wouldn't have to let go, and despite that he was still resolutely heading right for that pain. Taking a breath she climbed back up and took her seat as an alert started beeping. They dropped out of hyperspace and a blue and brown planet appeared in front of them.

"This is Tython. This is where we're going to try and find you a Jedi." Grogu made a grunt that sounded rather skeptical. "But you have to agree to go with them if they want you to. Understand?"

He hit a few more buttons to prepare them for entering the atmosphere. "Plus, I can't train you. You're too powerful. Besides, don't you want to learn more of that Jedi stuff?"

Despite how sad Din sounded she couldn't keep in the giggle. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Just what exactly is 'Jedi stuff'?" she asked with a smirk.

He didn't bother answering. Grogu grinned and laughed.

"I agreed to take you back to your own kind so that's what I need to do. Hopefully they won't be as frustrating as Alés," he teased. Reaching out she smacked him in the back of the arm. There was a low chuckle from under his helmet and she was satisfied. He glanced out the window as they made their way over the rocky hills. "Looks like that's the magic rock I'm supposed to take you to."

Alés leaned over to peer out as well and nodded. "Yes. That was surprisingly easy to find."

"I can't land on the top. Too small. We're going to have to travel the last stretch with the windows down."

"Just what does that mean?" she asked, turning to look at him. He ignored her question and began preparing for landing.

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"I'll walk. You can't carry both of us."

"Oh can't I?" She could've sworn she heard a smirk even if it wasn't visible. Then, so swiftly she didn't see it coming, he wrapped his arm around her waist and activated his jet pack. She couldn't stop a squeal from escaping her lips as they rose from the ground. Wrapping her arms tightly around him she buried her face into his neck.

"Not funny!" she yelled. "You know I'm not fond of flying." Alés felt rather than heard him chuckle.

"So you didn't enjoy flying with that other Mandalorian?"

She pulled her head up to look at him, momentarily forgetting where they were.

"Are you still mad about that?"

"Let's just say I did not like seeing him holding you so close."

That shut her up immediately. Her mind spun and it took a bit to even form a coherent thought. His statement said so much more than the words implied. She couldn't think of anything to say in response. Grogu, however, was squealing with excitement and she was glad of the distraction.

Too soon but not soon enough he had them back on solid ground. He kept an arm around her waist a moment after they'd landed to make sure she wasn't wobbly then they passed through the ring of tall standing stones to a rounded one set in the center.

"Well, I guess this is it," he said pacing around it then carefully set the child in the center of the rock. "I guess you sit right here. Okay. Here we go." He stepped back and they stared expectantly at Grogu … who stared right back.

"This is a seeing stone. Are you seeing anything?" His uncertainty was adorable and she fought to keep the smile off her lips. "Or are they supposed to see you? Maybe there's some kind of control or something." Pushing a button on his helmet he began circle the stone again. She crouched down to inspect the inscriptions that were carved into a ring around the perimeter of the stone but if it was indeed a Jedi dialect she had no idea how to decipher it.

"There is nothing we can do. He is the one that will have to take the initiative and begin using the Force to reach out," she explained.

They stepped back to watch him again. Nothing happened besides him trying to catch a small blue butterfly that flitted by close over his head. Din sighed.

"Oh come on kid. Ahsoka told me all I had to do was get you here and you'd do the rest."

"Give him some time. Its most likely been many years since he's tried something like this if he ever attempted it before at all."

"Time is not something we have a lot of."

"Yes, I know, but you've got to give him time to - "

She stopped as they heard the sound of an approaching ship. Its shape was not familiar which was a bit of a relief, at least it didn't seem Imperial, but that didn't mean it wasn't another bounty hunter. They watched its trajectory until it descended and disappeared behind rocks and trees. He glanced at her and she nodded.

"Time's up kid. We gotta get out of here." As Din reached for him, however, a pale blue cylinder of light shot up from the stone, encircling the little one completely. "We don't have time for this. We got to get - " His words were cut short as he was flung backwards after trying to reach through the shimmering blue. Grogu's eyes were closed and he had slipped into a meditation or whatever it was that was needed to reach out to other Jedi.

"Hey, snap out of it, kid! We've got to get out of here!" Din tried again to push his way through the barrier to no avail. Alés finally stepped over to where he'd been flung on his back a second time.

"I'll stay here with him," she said helping him up.

He was unsure, his entire body language conveyed his unwillingness to leave them, but after glancing over his shoulder again, he agreed.

"I don't think anyone will be able to breach that barrier until his meditation is done."

"How long will that take?"

"I have no idea."

"Alright. I'll try to buy him some time but can you see if you can hurry him up at all?"

She just shrugged then turned back to the child as Din hurried down the rocky slope towards where they'd seen the ship disappear. Stepping closer to the seeing stone Alés could feel the ebb and flow of the Force as Grogu used it; she couldn't help but close her eyes to enjoy the sensation. Though it was decidedly working for and with the little one at the moment it still seemed to spare some time to wrap itself around her, reminding her of who she was and the responsibility that came with that. She could hear it telling her not to be afraid, to trust, that all hope had not been wiped away. For the first time in decades Alés felt completely in tune with the Force, could feel its energy, its balance in everything around her. It was immensely comforting. When she felt like she might cry she finally opened her eyes and stepped back, letting the energy focus wholly on Grogu. In that moment she was glad Din had ended up on her planet. She was glad she had trusted enough to leave with him otherwise she might never have experienced such comfort again, might never have been reminded how it really felt to be a Jedi.

The unmistakable sound of another ship landing pulled her attention from the child. That was quickly followed by blaster fire. Hurrying to the edge of the circle her heart sank when she saw this was indeed an Imperial ship. Din was hurrying back up the hill towards them.

"That's it. We've got to get out of here!" he gasped as he drew closer to her.

"He's not finished yet. We can't get him out yet." He glanced over her shoulder. There was true fear radiating from him now. "Okay. I'm going to protect the two of you."

"I won't leave his side. I promise."

"That's a lot of Stormtroopers trying to get up here."

"I'm not worried about Stormtroopers but they'll have to kill me to get to him."

He pulled her towards him and touched his helmet to her forehead. "That's what I'm afraid of. Just stay here. I'll be back for you."

"I know."

After watching him scurry back down the hill there a noticeable change in the feeling of the Force around her and she spun to see the protective blue force field had dissipated and Grogu slumped over on the stone. She rushed to check on him. He wasn't completely asleep but he was definitely wiped out. Knowing he would just need to rest now she returned to the edge of the circle. Keeping herself slightly concealed behind one of the stones she was able to watch what was unfolding on the valley floor. Whoever had arrived in the first ship was obviously not an enemy and they had joined Din in a fight against the two squads of Stormtroopers that had piled out of the Imperial transports. They were obviously focused on trying to make their way up the hill towards where she waited with the child leaving her in no doubt of who sent them. Momentum in the fight seemed to swing back and forth a bit until, after a quick series of explosions, the troopers began racing back to their transport ships. Someone standing next to Din, who looked an awful lot like another Mandalorian from where she was standing, aimed and fired a rocket at one of the departing ships. A satisfying burst of flames and the crippled ship slammed into the other on its way to the ground. She let her shoulders relax in relief … that didn't last long. Before the smoke had stopped curling up from the crashed transport ships there was the sound of an ion cannon being fired and a large red bolt erupted from the cloud cover. She watched in horror as the Crest exploded and in that moment, even from that distance, she felt Din's disbelief and heartbreak.

There was no time to process what had just happened because five small streaks of red appeared overhead and these were headed straight towards the top of the hill. It didn't take long to make out they were humanoid in shape, though she could detect no lifeforms within - and she knew whatever they were these were Gideon's big attempt to steal what he wanted.

She grabbed Grogu, holding him tightly to her side, and thumbed on her saber. Eying the rapidly approaching figures she dashed to one side and hoped it would give her a little running room. Her senses screamed at her and she lunged to the left as a rocket blast shattered the ground where she'd just been. Another landed a few feet in front of her causing her to crouch down in an effort to protect the kid from flying shards of rock. The black armored droids landed in a circle around them and she took up a defensive stance, her saber at the ready. She could feel Grogu's fingers clinging to her tunic and for the first time could sense some of his thoughts. He was afraid but he trusted her. Kriff, could she do this? Could she keep him safe? While she could feel their presence in the Force since they were droids there were no thoughts or emotions to read which left her almost blind in a way. She wouldn't be able to see what was coming.

All five of them stepped forward in unison and she swung at the one on her right, feeling a spurt of satisfaction as her blade cut down through its shoulder and torso. The two pieces fell to the dirt and it seemed to give the other four momentary pause. That pause lasted long enough for her to draw in two deep breaths before they all opened fire. Alés threw herself through the opening the fallen trooper had left and found herself back in the ring of stones. Keeping her back to the seeing stone she continued trying to block the blaster bolts. One grazed the arm holding Grogu and she clutched him tighter silently cursing under her breath as a fire like pain spread towards her shoulder. From the corner of her eye she saw the little guy reaching out to where the shot had hit her.

"No, no. I don't need you tired out right now. I'll be fine."

Another shot was fired at them and she spun out of the way and into the shadow of one of the upright stones. Before she could reposition herself several of the rockets came at them and she was thrown to the ground as rock exploded around her. A chunk slammed against her head and the last thing she remembered was tasting dirt in her mouth.

The sound of blaster fire and what he now recognized as the hum of Alés's lightsaber had him pushing harder to reach the top. Din yelled out curses as he and Fennec scrambled up the hillside. He should never have left Alés and the kid alone! His boots felt like they were getting no traction as gravel kept slipping underfoot. An explosion caused the ground under their feet to shudder. Everything seemed to slow down around him as they struggled up the final stretch but they weren't fast enough. As they reached the top he saw Alés crumbling into the dirt amid a hail of rocks on the opposite side of the stone and one of the black troopers scoop the kid up as she fell. He made a dash for her but another of the troopers grabbed her as well.

"No! No!" he yelled as he watched their quick ascent. He could hear the kid squeal but there was no sound from Alés.

"They've got the baby," Fennec relayed to Fett through her comm.

"I'm on them," came the reply.

"Call him off. I don't want them hurt."

She communicated his message but Din barely heard their ensuing conversation. He was staring at the disturbed ground where Alés had fallen. There were jagged chunks of rock scattered across the area, the broken pieces of one of the troopers nearby, and lying in the dirt was her lightsaber; she had gone down protecting the kid just as she'd promised. He could only hope it hadn't cost her life. Picking up the weapon he turned it over slowly in his hands, memories of the times he'd seen her wielding it flashing through his mind. What were those things that took them? How had they been able to best her? And what was Gideon going to do with her?