Boba climbed onto one of the nets of the ship and took in the sights as they sailed through the galaxy.
They came across a part of the galaxy where space orcas were migrating.
"Would you look at them?" gasped Satine, taking a picture of the majestic creatures. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"
Obi-Wan wrapped an arm around his lady.
"I'm looking at her right now." Obi-Wan said.
Gabby got excited seeing the orcas, and Anakin let her sit on his shoulders so she could get a better view.
"Beautiful, aren't they?" Anakin chuckled.
"Hi, whales." Gabby waved to the whales.
"Ah, it is a great night to sail, isn't it, Captain?" said Hondo. "And I see you and your little princess are having a wondrous family reunion."
"Did you come to try and flatter us," said Anakin. "Or to get Boba off of those shrouds before he hurts himself?"
Hondo sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Boba, get down." Hondo called. He approached the boy. "I've got a couple new friends I want you to meet."
Hondo then brought out a bucket and a mop.
"Say hello to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket." Hondo laughed.
"Nice to meet you." Boba said sarcastically.
Boba got to work swabbing the deck.
"Yeah, I'm not too fond of this job either, Mr. Mop." Boba said before he was pushed by Trench.
"Watch where you're going, brat." said the spider-like pirate.
Boba said nothing and continued to mop, when he caught a glimpse of a trio of Weequays chatting by a barrel on the other side of the ship.
"What are you looking at, weirdo?" said one of the Weequays.
"Yeah. Weirdo." said another.
That was when, from up above, a scary-looking humanoid-type being with a black and red face with horns jumped. He seemed to hiss as he approached the human boy. His name was Darth Maul.
"Cabin boys should mind their own business." said Maul.
"Why? Am I in your business?" Boba said.
Maul picked up Boba by the front of his shirt, twisting it a bit.
"It doesn't appear your ears don't work so well." Maul hissed, Boba gagging at the scent of his breath.
"Ugh! Too bad my nose works just fine."
That angered Maul.
"Why you impertinent little-"
Maul held him up against a mast but didn't account for a couple of little girls entering the scene.
Gabby and Lamenta both screamed for their grandfather and their fathers. But someone else stopped the brawl instead.
Hondo grabbed Hondo by his arm that wasn't holding Boba.
"Maul... what did we say about interacting with the children?" Hondo said.
And that was when Maul got poked in the butt by a blue-gray unicorn's horn.
Maul cried out in pain and dropped Boba to the floor.
"What is going on down here?" said Obi-Wan, entering the scene.
"Maul was going to hurt Boba!" Gabby said, pointing at Maul.
"Are you fond of that little finger, Princess?" Maul growled.
"DADDY!" Gabby screamed, fleeing from the scene.
"You all know the rules." Obi-Wan scolded. "There will be no brawling, and especially no physical abuse of any sort on the children."
Everyone stood lined up as Obi-Wan lectured them.
"Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage." said Obi-Wan. "Am I clear, Mr. Maul?"
Maul glanced at Hondo for a moment, who glared at him. And the Sith faced Obi-Wan once more.
"Crystal." he growled.
Everyone was soon sent back to work, and Hondo picked up the mop and started scolding Boba.
"Boba, I gave you a job!" Hondo scolded.
"I was doing it until Crazy Head-" Boba started, but was interrupted by Hondo.
"No excuses!" Hondo gave him the mop. "Get back to work. I want this deck spotless. And heaven forbid, I come back and it's not done..." He looked at Pikk. "Pikk, keep an eye on the boy. Let me know if there are any further disturbances."
And the monkey-lizard crawled off Hondo's shoulder and onto Boba's.
Hondo then went downstairs to talk with the other pirates.
"Now, now... gentlemen. I have a question for you all." Hondo said, taking out a sword. "ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY, BLINKING DAFT?! After all the work I've done to convince the ones in charge that we are an upstanding crew, you want to blow it all by intimidating those poor children?! That will have blown our cover before it is time."
"The boy was sniffing about." growled Maul.
"You just stick to the plan you pea-brained twit." said Hondo. "As for the boy, I'll run him so ragged he won't have time to think."
"And what about the captains' brats?" Aurra pointed out.
"I wouldn't worry about them." Hondo said. "They spend more time running for their mommies and daddies than worrying about us."
But Hondo and the other pirates didn't know that one of them, Lamenta, was the champion of Hide and Seek. She was incredibly quiet when she wanted to be. So well that it was like she was invisible.
Later that night, Boba was still mopping. However, he had a friend this time to help him.
That very unicorn who poked Maul in the butt with his horn to make him drop Boba, whose name was Remix, came up to help him by grabbing an extra mop and using his magic to help clean the deck.
"Well, this has been a fun day, huh?" sighed Boba.
"It's not exactly deejaying a dance party, but it's... something." Remix shrugged. "Making new friends, like that ladybug-faced psycho."
Remix stifled a laugh. "Did you see the look on his face with I hit him with my horn?"
Remix mockingly imitated Maul screaming in pain and jumped all around and rolled on the deck, making Boba guffaw.
"Well," said a new voice. "It sounds like you're having fun."
Remix froze and stood himself up.
"Thank heavens for little miracles."
Boba managed to stop laughing and take a breather.
"Up here for one hour with the wildest horse and the deck's still in one piece." Hondo continued as he dumped some leftovers overboard.
"Um... look." Boba started as he continued mopping. "What you did, I... thanks."
Hondo then looked concerned.
"Didn't your father teach you to pick your fights a bit more carefully?" Hondo asked.
"He died four years ago." Boba said, looking over the side at the stars. "Never got the chance."
"Ah. Sorry, lad." Hondo stood at the side of the boat. "You know, I wasn't much older than you when I lost my sweet mother."
"Hey, I'm doin' fine. He died doing what he loved."
"Is that so?" Hondo rested an elbow on the side of the ship. "Well, since the captain has put you in my charge, like it or not, I'll be pounding a few skills into that thick head of yours to keep you out of trouble."
"What?" Boba was confused.
"From now on, I am not letting you out of my sight."
"You can't do-"
Hondo shook a finger at Boba and said, "You won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch your bum without my say-so."
Boba bit Hondo's finger when it got too close to his face.
"Ouch!" Hondo pulled his finger away. "and you definitely won't have my say-so to bite me."
"Don't do me any favors." said Boba.
"You can be sure of that, my boy."
As the voyage continued, Hondo stayed true to his word and got Boba into various tasks that would come in handy someday.
Scraping barnacles off the ship, scrubbing harder on the deck, learning to tie knots, and more of the cooking.
All the while, Boba thought back to various memories he had of his father when he was Gabby's age.
All the times that Jango came home after an amazing adventure, he would be waiting for his boy to coming running into his arms when he walked through the front door, and ruffle his son's hair and get a big kiss from his wife, at which Boba would start silently gagging.
Boba remembered days when he would pretend to sail, and his father would play along with him, and taught him everything he knew about sailing.
Here and now, Boba was becoming very hard working.
One night, Hondo came to Boba and found him having fallen asleep after cleaning so many dishes. And he placed a blanket around the boy.
All the while, whenever Hondo wasn't around, one or more of the other kids came around. Gabby found ways to make the chores more fun, Lamenta sang songs with her cousin like Gabby and Carousella did at the Inn, and the horses interacted with Boba plenty. They especially came in handy when Boba had to clean up veggie scraps.
Later, Hondo even taught Boba how to operate a smaller vessel on the ship, and the explored a sea full of stars. Boba felt so much adrenaline as he felt the wind through his hair. It felt like he was finally on a real adventure like he dreamed of going on with his father as a small child.