Chapter 2

"Hello there!"

Mando stared at her as she smiled up at him. None of this made sense. Baryu made his niece sound like a potential danger whereas the people that he's met and seen, and Casali herself, made her seem like the complete opposite.

Still he stayed wary.

Slowly he scanned over her, eyes taking in her appearance from behind his helmet. She was a small woman in a criss crossing top made of blue fabric with small white flowers scattered throughout that showed off her toned arms and tan skin. The top rested just above her ribs and what looked like three pieces of raised skin on each side of her ribs. The same gills that Mando noticed the blue haired and some of the teal and turquoise haired people had. Her hair was a wavy turquoise that was pulled up into a half up half down high ponytail with two sections of hair framing her face that reached her shoulders and ended in two gold cylinder clasps. Tucked behind her left ear was a white flower that had curved petals that tapered into points at the ends. In the sunlight the bounty hunter could see something on her skin illuminating. On a closer look, he could see the iridescent looking scales that other Sol'uans were sporting swirling around her body. The markings started as two swirls that met in the middle of her forehead and traveled down her temples and ears to her cheeks where they swirled downward and ending close to her nose. They continued to travel down her neck and then down to two swirls on her collarbone. From there the markings went down her shoulders and wrapped around her arms and ended at her hands. This was all he could see from where she stood behind the market stall. The swirls looked like a mixture of the twisting vine markings the green haired people had and the scales that ran up and down the bodies of the blue haired people.

"Is there anything that catches your eye?" Casali asked, the smile still on her face.

"No," came the short reply from Mando.

"Oh!" She clapped her hands and her eyes lit up. "I have a suggestion for you then." Turning behind her she grabbed a basket full of lumpy shaped, dark blue fruit with orange speckles all over them. The woman smiled up at him as she held out the basket towards him. "You'll love these lycanamas. They're not too sweet, but just enough. Or do you like sweeter tasting food? If that's the case then you'll probably prefer the acropins. Your little one seems to like them."

Mando whipped his head down to see the child reaching his hand out of the satchel towards a basket of the same bright green fruit he had been eating when the two had reached Casali's house. "Stop that," he said, gently pushing the child's hand away.

A giggle came from Casali. "No need to worry. He can try one if he likes." There was no response from him, but that didn't stop the woman as she continued to smile up at him. "If lycanamas and acropins aren't for you, might I suggest the puno berries? Your little one seems to enjoy those as well," she giggled, "but so do a lot of children."

Once again Mando lowered his head to see the green alien stealing the fruit, this time successfully. The child was shoveling a handful of the purple berries into his mouth with a gleeful smile on his face.

A soft sigh came from Mando as he pulled the child from the satchel and into his arm. "Those aren't yours," he said firmly, earning a coo from the child.

"You're a Mandalorian, right?"

Mando turned to the woman to see her still smiling. For a brief moment she turned away from him to address a new customer, nodding her head at their question.

"I've never met a Mandalorian before," she said, grabbing a large yellow fruit that she hefted onto the table where the droid with the customer grabbed it. Then Casali grabbed a small vase of bright blue, tiny flowers with thin, dark green leaves the length of her arms and passed it to the customer. She thanked them as she received the credits and waved them goodbye. Turning back to Mando she continued, "I've heard a couple stories of your kind. It's quite interesting, but I never thought I'd get to meet one. We see plenty of travelers from time to time, but never a Mandalorian. Why are you here? Traveling?" A laugh came from her as she watched the little green alien reach his tiny hands up towards a bundle of tiny red fruit that was hanging from the top of the stall. "Here you go, sweetie," she said, handing a couple to him, "on the house!" She smiled brightly when the child squeaked at her with a smile as he happily took the fruit. "You know, I've heard a lot of your kind are bounty hunters," she said as she turned around to grab another vase of flowers as two little girls, one water tribe and one plant tribe, came running up to the stand waving credits. She giggled as the girls bounced on their feet as she handed them each a large pink flower with large petals curling downward and a small pouch of the puno berries. "It's nice to see a family man for once." She turned back to the Mandalorian only for her smile to fall and her face to show absolute confusion as the Mandalorian held out cuffs.

"I'm here to take you in," he simply stated.

"I'm sorry?" Casali said, her eyes traveling from the cuffs to the black visor on the man's helmet. Slowly she continued, "Can I ask what I did?"

The loud chatter around the area began to gradually die down. Whispers from the customers at the woman's stand and surrounding ones began as everyone watched Casali and the Mandalorian. Some onlookers turned away, quickly walking in the other direction, not wanting to get involved, while others watched. The reactions from everyone were varied. While some had looks of bewilderment on their faces, some had anger, and others looked on with light chuckles.

"I've been given a job to take you to Ruco Synan."

Mando watched as Casali's eyes grew wide, her posture going rigid as soon as the name was out in the open. Gasps from other Sol'uans could be heard around them. The chatter began to pick back up, but more towards the situation at hand rather than discussing bargains for products. Mando didn't have time for explanations. So far he wasted time going to Casali's house for nothing and wasted time with finding her stall in the market. All this and he still had to go get The Crest repaired. But he had to admit, aside from the damage to the ship, it was an easy hunt.

"Uncle Baryu sent you, didn't he?" Casali asked softly. The silence from the Mandalorian as he continued to hold out the cuffs was enough for the woman. Raising her gaze from the metal contraption she looked back to the black T in the man's helmet again. "Can I ask why he sent you?"

Before Mando could respond, a man's voice shouted as he came up to the stall. Mando turned his head to see a green haired man with thicker antlers than Baryu marching up to them and poking a finger at his chest.

"Now wait just a minute, sir. Ruco Synan? What business do you have with that horrible creature?" the man asked, glaring up at the beskar clad man.

"That business is for me and my client," Mando answered, turning away from the man.

"Client," the man said with a scoff following after. "If that client is Baryu, you're siding with the wrong man. He and all the other coots who believe in the old ways always like to cause problems."

A water tribe woman then came up, pulling her daughter along by the hand. Her face was scrunched up as she wagged a finger in the Mandalorian's face. "You leave that poor girl alone! She's done nothing but help people. What right do you have to take her to someone so horrid as Ruco Synan?"

"Like I said," Mando said, staring down at the woman, "the information for the job is between me and my client."

"We all know it's Baryu!" another man shouted from the gathering crowd. "You can just say it."

"Oh let him take her!" another new voice jeered. "We don't need anymore half breeds here anyway!"

This started a full blown argument amongst some of the people in the crowd. Other were arguing with each other and shouting in each others' faces while some like the first man and woman continued to give their opinions on Casali and Mando's job.

Mando sighed as he held the cuffs out to Casali again. He watched as the woman looked from him to the cuffs again. Slowly she made her way out from behind her booth and held her arms out to him, her face calmer than Mando had expected. Now that she was standing out from the stall Mando could see that her markings stretched down her body. Like he took note of before, there were markings that swooped down the side of her waist from under her top and based on the parts of her legs he could see from the slit in the matching skirt the markings swirled around her legs as well. The markings on her legs stopped right before her feet just as they had done with her hands, one leg showing a tiny gold anklet sitting right between her sandals and the markings.

The fruit and flower vendor continued to stare at Mando, turquoise eyes pleading up at him and hands held out limply towards him waiting for the cuffs. It was definitely one of the easier bounties he's had. As he approached her, he glanced at her face and saw a look of fear cloud her eyes. The woman was complying too easily and the fear that swam across her face wasn't one he associated with getting captured by him, but something else.

"Please?" came, this time, a quieter voice from Casal that Mando almost missed. "I'd like to know why you're taking me to Ruco Synan. I've never even met him. Not a lot of us have. We all do our best to stay away from him and his crew. Why am I being taken there?"

Placing the cuffs on the young woman's wrists he ignored her question and turned to face the first man. He sighed again as he saw the continuous glare from him. "Can you tell me where I can find Parma and Aluko?"

"If you're not letting Casali go, I doubt you'll get an answer from any of us," the plant tribe man responded, folding his arms over his chest.

"I'll eventually find it, whether you tell me or not," Mando stated, looking over the crowd at the buildings behind. He knew most mechanics' shops looked similar no matter the planet. Whether they were in the city or out, it wouldn't be hard to find the shop.

"They're a couple blocks down from here," came Casali's gentle voice. When Mando turned to look at her, she lifted her hands up and pointed down a street to their left the best she could with the cuffs on. "It's a large building. You can't miss it. If you want, I can show you."

"Casali!" a new water tribe man with long blue hair exclaimed in shock. "Why would you offer to help this guy?"

A small smile graced the woman's features. "I'm assuming his ship is in need of repairs." She let out a small hum when she saw the Mandalorian stare at her in silence. "I'll show you, if you answer my questions. Do we have a deal?"

There was no answer from him. After a moment he placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her away from the crowd. "Let's go."

"Mister!" a small voice shouted as the two weaved their way through the crowd.

Mando turned around to see a little half water and half plant tribe girl staring up at him with big teal eyes. Like Casali, she had turquoise hair that was pulled into a braid at the side and tied off with a gold cylinder clasp. She rocked back and forth on her feet for a moment and fiddled with her fingers before she finally spoke again.

"You're not going to hurt Casali, are you? She promised she'd help me start my own garden soon."

"I'll be fine, Linka," Casali said, placing a quick pat on the girl's head. "Don't worry about me. I'll be back to teach you how to garden soon."

It was silent for a moment, aside from a sniffle that came from the little girl, before Mando tugged Casali along through the crowd. As they went he ignored the cries of outrage from the people around them. He shoved his way through as best as he could, eyeing all the people who looked ready to jump at them. Amongst the angry citizens he did catch a few with smirks on their faces as they watched him take Casali away. Some were muttering praises of "good riddance" and "rotten half breed" as the two went along.

"Down that street you'll find Parma and Aluko," Casali said, nodding her head down a street that was a little less crowded with one or two stalls from the market. "Now back to my question," she lightly said. "Why are you taking me to Ruco?" She tried again, but once again was ignored. She huffed as she stared up at the side of the Mandalorian's helmet.

"Patu," the Child spoke out.

Casali looked down before she giggled and waved her fingers at him earning a smile and wave back. "He's adorable," she commented, looking back up at the Mandalorian. "What's his name? Or hers?" the woman asked when she was met with silence. "How old is he?" The silence continued as the three made their way down the street, Casali giggling with the child and occasionally glancing up at the armored man. "He's not much of a talker is he?" she asked, smiling at the green child.

"Bwah!"

Reaching up as best as she could with the cuffs, Casali plucked the flower from her hair. With a smile she moved her hands down to the satchel where the child rested, holding out the flower to him. The second she was within reach of the child a hand snatched her forearm, stopping her movements. Looking up with a gasp, Casali was met with the cold metal stare of the Mandalorian's helmet.

"What are you doing?"

Holding in another gasp, the woman looked up at the bounty hunter. "I was giving your little one a flower," she said, offering a gentle smile as she tried to reassure the cautious man. "See?"

Looking down, Mando saw the child cooing as he took the white flower from Casali's hand. A giggle came from him as he shook it watching the petals flail about.

"I wouldn't hurt him," the Sol'uan woman continued in nearly a whisper, doing her best to ease the man's tension.

Mando paused as he stared at the child before his attention was drawn to where he held Casali's arm. He could feel a small movement coming from the woman. Looking at her hands he could seem them ever so slightly shaking as he continued to grip her arm.

"Which way to the mechanics," Mando said, pulling them along down the street.

"Just a few more buildings." Casali pointed to a large building that had a wide opening in the road in the front of it. "That one right there is it. One of the biggest buildings in the city. You can't miss it.!"

As they got closer, Mando could see just how large the building was. It was almost as large as Peli's shop. There was a spacious hanger inside where a speeder sat in the middle. All around were, tables full of parts and tools, buckets of more parts and canisters lined the walls, and cables spread and running all over. Running and rolling around were little droids helping carry things to and fro. At the speeder, with sparks flying around as parts were being welded in and wires getting fixed on the speeder, were two figures.

Like the majority of the Sol'uans, these two were tanned. One was a woman with very short blue hair that touched her ears, who sat atop the speeder with a torch in hand. Like Casali, the woman had gills, but hers sat on her neck. Her build was large and strong. Her big arms were shown off through the sleeveless plain white shirt she wore (that contrasted the floral patterned baggy pants she wore) to combat the heat coming from the planet's climate and the tool in her hand. Then there were the scale markings that lined up and down her arms, shining with the flashes from the torch. Mando could only think that the woman was close to rivaling Cara.

Then there was the person below the speeder. From what Mando could see of the mechanic it was a half breed based on the markings he could see on their legs that were sticking out. The same ones that Casali sported on her body.

"Hello," Casali called out, elongating the o. "Parma and Aluko, you have a new customer!"

"Casali!" came the voice of the person on top of the speeder. By the sound of her voice behind the welding mask there was an unmistakable smile. "Aluko! Casali is here!"

A loud thunk sounded, echoing loudly off the walls. "Ow," the person under the speeder aaid, rolling out from under as they rubbed their head.

"Casali! It's been a while!" the first mechanic said as she climbed down. "How have you be- uh hello?" She froze as soon as she saw who was with Casali. Her eyes kept shifting from Mando to her friend to the cuffs around Casali's wrists.

"Who are you?" came a harsh voice as the other mechanic stepped up.

Now that they were out from under the speeder Mando could get a better look at the person. It was another woman. Unlike her partner, she was shorter and smaller with toned arms from her work. The woman was in fact a half breed, confirming Mando's assumptions from earlier. Her hair was a darker teal than Casali's own turquoise hair, but unlike Casali's hers reached her shoulders and was held back with a red floral bandana that matched the red floral top she wore. At the top of her head and poking out from the bandana were the twig antlers he saw the plant tribe people sport. Hers were a little thinner than what Baryu had and had a few sections that branched off at the top. Her turquoise eyes glared at him and her full lips were turned down as she stared at him in suspicion.

"You gonna answer today, tin can?" the woman questioned as the water tribe woman stood next to her looking worried as she continued to looked between Mando and Casali.

"I'm looking for Parma and Aluko. I need help with my ship," Mando replied, stepping further into the shop, Casali following a step behind.

"You're looking at them," the half-breed woman said, placing her hands on her hips and cocking a hip to the side. "Now don't make me repeat myself again. Who are you?"

"And why is Casali handcuffed?" the first woman asked. "If I can ask that…sorry." She hesitated as she stared at the empty gaze of the Mandalorian's helmet.

"Of course you can ask that, Parma!" the second woman exclaimed. "What have I told you about apologizing when it's not needed?"

"That I don't need to apologize for everything especially when it's not my fault," Parma said, fiddling with her fingers.

"Exactly!" the half breed said, throwing her hands in the air. "And in this instant it's not your fault," she turned her gaze back to Mando and glared, "it's his."

"Sorry, Aluko."

"What did I just say?" Aluko sighed, shaking her head as she turned her gaze up.

A sigh of his own came from Mando as he shifted on his feet. "Can I just get some help? My ship needs repairs and you're the two everyone is telling me to see."

"That depends," Aluko said, her eyes narrowing. "You going to tell us what you're doing with our friend there?"

"That's confidential," Mando simply replied.

"Then I guess you're not gonna get help on that ship of yours," the woman said, giving a challenging look.

Mando's hand clenched into a fist at his side as he stared down Aluko. This job that had started to get easier was getting more complicated than was needed. The people of this planet were the nosiest people he's ever encountered on a job and he was starting to wonder if this was even worth taking. Slowly he let out a breath, never taking his eyes off the short woman in front of him. He was tired of explaining himself to people, but at this rate he wasn't going to get off this planet and back to Nevarro if he didn't get these two's help.

"I'm taking her to Ruco Synan."

It was the same reaction as the marketplace. Gasping and glaring. Parma's hands flew to her mouth and her eyes went wide as they flickered to Casali. Aluko didn't move. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze never left the Mandalorian. Mando could see her hands flexing at her sides and her stance went rigid.

"What the kriff does that fat Drol need with Casali?" Aluko sneered.

"She hasn't met the guy, barely any of us in the city have," Parma frantically added.

Aluko's lip curled. "Only rarely do we get the misfortune of seeing the disgusting creep in our city. And most of the time it's just his minions coming to terrorize us. The guy doesn't like to do things for himself." She rolled her eyes in disgust before bringing them back to Mando. "So why is it that Casali, probably one of the nicest people in the city, is being taken to him?" She shot a finger out towards the Mandalorian, glaring a little harder (if that was possible for the woman). "And don't give me that 'it's confidential' blurg shit. If you want our help with your ship you better start answering our questions."

"Look," Mando said firmly, "can you help me fix my ship or not? I can go find someone else to fix it instead if that's the case."

"Sorry, pal," Aluko said with a small chuckle. "You're looking at the best mechanics in this city."

"We're the only mechanics in the city, Aluko," Parma said, her eyes glancing at Mando before going back to her partner. She flinched when Aluko's glare was set on her, only less threatening than she was giving the bounty hunter and more annoyed.

"Parma, he doesn't need to know that," Aluko said with a shake of her head. "And besides, we're the best. So." She turned back to Mando and jutted a hip out as she folded her arms over her chest. "What's it going to be, tin can?"

"Aluko, wait!" Casali quickly spoke out. She glanced at Mando, seeing his fists clench at his side again as he stared down at the mechanic, and chewed her lip. "They'll help you," she said, looking up at the Mandalorian.

"Excuse me?" Aluko squawked, eyes going wide as she looked at her friend. "Casali, what the kriff are you doing?"

"Please, just help him," she said, eyes pleading with the two women. She turned back to Mando, stepping closer to him. "They'll help you, just please don't hurt them."

She continued to stare up at the Mandalorian. She had heard only a few tales of their people. Some were fascinating. Most were of dangerous stories. Stories to do with weapons and injuries or worse death. Casali didn't know this Mandalorian, she had thought that based on his interactions with the little green child on his side he was kind, but seeing the cuffs the first time made her second guess her judgment. Even more with the way he and Aluko have been butting heads. She was worried a fight would break out and she didn't want to see anyone hurt.

"Casali…why?" Parma said, wringing her hands together.

Aluko scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Fine," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "Where's your stupid ship?"

"Just outside the city. Between here and her house," he said, nodding his head to the captive woman.

Aluko looked at him for a moment before a wry smile slowly grew on her face. "We'll help you," she said, folding her hands across her chest. "What ship are we looking for?"

"A Razor Crest."

A gasp came from Parma as her face lit up. "A Razor Crest? I've always wanted to see one of those!"

"I can only imagine the shape you kept it in," Aluko sneered. She turned to her partner. "Alright, Parma, head out to his ship. You're faster at repairs than me. I'll help you finish it later. I'll be staying with Casali and our new friend here."

"Got it," Parma said, nodding her head. Quickly she began running about the shop gathering up tools and supplies. She instructed a couple droids as she went, taking a satchel from one of them.

"And you," Aluko said, turning back to Mando. "I'm going with you to Ruco's." She chuckled when she saw the Mandalorian tip his head to the side as he watched her. "We have an extra speeder. I'm sure you don't want to walk to Ruco's and I'm definitely not letting you drive the speeder either since you're the one coming to us for help with your ship. And this way I can keep an eye on Casali."

Mando stared at the woman and let out one last sigh after a moment. "Fine. As long as you can get the ship fixed."

"Yeah yeah," the mechanic said, waving a dismissive hand. "Just know I'm doing this for Casali. Not you, tin can."

A soft smile graced Casali's features. "Thank you, Aluko."

"I'm making sure you're safe," Aluko said, turning her gaze to her friend. "Maybe I can convince this buckethead to let you go." Her eyes snapped over to Mando again before she made her way to the second speeder at the back of the shop. She waved at Parma as she drove off with the first speeder. "Come on," she said with a sigh. "Let's get going."

Hello! It's been probably a year since I posted the first chapter of this story and sorry for the late update. But I had a sudden hit of inspiration and motivation to write chapter 2 so here it is! I hope you enjoy and if you do please leave a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

You can find me on tumblr every so often with bits and pieces of updates and snippets of writings for this story and others. Feel free to check me out at water-writings.