Bastila:
His breathing, while still sluggish, had returned to a consistent pace and his skin wasn't as sallow as it had been. I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.
In truth, I wished that Canderous Ordo would leave this mission as soon as he opened his eyes, but with crew members currently missing, I preferred the ones returned to be in one piece.
Sasha whimpered and nuzzled her face into his belly. I had learned to ignore her bared teeth every time I needed to check the Mandalorian's condition, but her refusal to wear the clothing I had provided her with still unsettled me.
When I did a quick check of his pulse at his throat, Canderous' hand shot up and crushed around my wrist. Sasha screamed and huddled by his shoulder.
Those pale gray eyes lazed open and he released me with a snort. "It's you."
"I see that a near death experience hasn't changed you in the least," I sniffed as I rubbed the spot on my wrist where his hand had been. "How do you feel?"
"Like I almost died." There was a rattling in his lungs as he laughed. "What happened?""Your lungs shut down," I explained. "So I meditated to create a web of healing energy with the Force."
Canderous raised an eyebrow.
"And I admit, several medpacs also helped." I crossed my arms.
He coughed. "How long was I out?"
"A little over two hours," I said. "Standard time."
Canderous nodded and forced himself up to a half sitting position. Sasha scrambled onto his lap. The child regarded him with large unblinking eyes before she turned to me and growled.
He glanced at her and snorted. "What's she still doing here?"
"Sasha was the one that found you." I raised an eyebrow. "She hasn't left your side since I brought you into the medbay."
Canderous looked at the naked child and Sasha stared back silently.
"I wanted to talk to you about her," I said. "She has a mark on her leg that I can't identify. But it was placed there intentionally. Given her attachment to you, perhaps you would know something about it?"
He lifted her leg up and examined it for a moment before he swore. Sasha sat, docile, through it all. "Clan Fett," Canderous said. "Their mark."
"You Mandalorians mark up children?" I asked.
Canderous shook his head. "This is clan business, Jedi."
I sniffed. "So I should leave it to you, Ordo, clan of one."
Sasha made an entirely inhuman sound as the Mandalorian narrowed his eyes. "Generations ago, slaves taken during war raids were marked as property," he said. "The practice was done away with before your Mandalorian Wars. That's all you need to know."
"Generations ago, yet a child carries a Fett brand," I replied.
"I dealt with those honorless dogs," he growled.
"And that's why you nearly died?"
Canderous rolled over so that his back faced me. Sasha was unceremoniously dumped onto the edge of the bed. She giggled.
"Canderous," I began.
"Leave," he grunted. "Now."
"Well I–" I was attempting to take my frustrations out on a wounded man and it was preposterous. "Very well."
I left the medical bay as swiftly as I could without running. I needed to wash up, scour the blood and grime from my hands. I needed to collect myself.
The anger so prevalent from Rian tapered off. Exhaustion replaced rage, a spike of worry drowned out the underlying irritation.
I didn't like not knowing.
In the refresher, I turned the sink's water on hot and scrubbed away at my arms and hands until they were pink. The small room gave a semblance of privacy, where I could feel like I was free to take a spare moment and simply breathe.
Concern propelled me to reach out, through the bond that Rian and I shared. Since our bond first surfaced, I had attempted to grant the other woman as much solitude in her own mind as I could, so non-verbal communication had not come up. But she had been gone for far too long and it was time to swallow my pride.
Rian? Can you hear me?
For my efforts, I was rewarded with a string of incoherent obscenities. Something about a grandfather swam to the fore, completely irrational, like a serpent eating its own tail. Focused and unguarded as I was, the waves of confusion so foreign to my own were disorienting.
Then Sasha began to scream. And things began to fall into place.
The medical bay was crowded beyond its allotted capacity, with Carth pacing just outside the door.
"What the hell?" Rian bellowed from within.
Sasha screamed again.
"Get him out of the cot," Rian commanded. Her voice was cold, but anxiety rolled through the bond. "And find a babysitter for the kid. We'll deal with her later."
"Rian, please." I slipped past Carth and into the medical bay. "Canderous was just recently injured."
"Right now, I don't care if his intestines fall out when he rolls over," she snapped. "He abandoned the group for his own little glory quest, so as far as I'm concerned, he got what he deserved. We need the cot. Get him out."
"What?"
Zaalbar moaned something and I caught sight of the body in his arms.
"I see," I murmured. "I'll need some help moving him, then."
An unfamiliar old man placed a hand on my shoulder. Interesting that Rian seemed to pick up stragglers on every planet we had been to, so far. "He's a Mandalorian, lass. Don't coddle him or he'll get cranky. And believe me, cranky Mandalorians are the worst kind of sulkers I've ever seen."
For a brief moment I felt an enormous Force presence within the man that was gone almost as soon as I had sensed it. I nodded. "Of course, Master Jedi."
The old man snorted. "Oh, save it. All the yammering in the galaxy won't help this child."
Juhani reached for Canderous' arm to steady him as he forced himself off the cot. Sasha snarled. The Cathar woman chuckled softly before she turned to the child, bared her pointed teeth and growled right back.
Sasha's eyes grew wide and she regarded Juhani with a newfound respect. Had I known it was that easy earlier, I could have been saved a headache. Perhaps Juhani would be able to convince the young girl that clothing wasn't evil.
Canderous shoved Juhani away and stumbled out of the medical bay on his own. Sasha followed closely at his heels. A dark expression was on Rian's face as her eyes followed the movements of the old man as he rummaged through our medical supplies.
He glanced at the remaining crew members and scowled. "You." He pointed at Rian. "Out." His finger moved on to Zaalbar, Juhani and Carth. "You, you and you. Out. It's too cramped in here. Let me work in peace."
Carth frowned. "Jolee Bindo. Will she be alright?"
Jolee Bindo's brows furrowed. "Possibly. If you let me work. Now shoo!"
"Bindo's got a point," Rian agreed. She examined Zaalbar's bowcaster as the Wookiee placed Mission on the cot. When his hands were freed, Rian tossed the weapon at him. "We've got other problems to deal with."
"Problems?" I asked.
Zaalbar barked something, too quick for me to decipher.
"Oh yeah," Rian said to Zaalbar. "We just disrupted this planet's hierarchy, my furry friend. You think Czerka's not going to squash Freyyr as soon as they find out?"
"We should act quickly," Juhani said. Her fingers grazed her lightsaber. "Snuff them out before they can retaliate."
Rian gave a grim smile. "Come on. Let's go kill shit."
As the others followed her out of the medical bay I took a few steps in her direction. "Rian, wait."
The old man, Jolee Bindo, clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Let them go."
"Can't you sense it?" I asked. "All the stress and emotional exhaustion emanating from her?"
"And what would you do about it, hmm?" He stabbed a syringe into Mission and tossed it into the hazardous waste trasher with a scowl. Blue light blossomed at his fingertips. "You don't want to wake up, do you, missy?" he muttered at the girl. "Well, too bad."
What would I have done? Pleaded with Rian to calm herself? Demanded that she stay on the ship? Effectively nothing, as the woman was immune to logic and incapable of listening.
"How can I help?" I placed a hand on Mission's forehead. She felt cold, but perhaps that was just normal for a Twi'lek.
"You need me to spell it out for you?" Master Bindo huffed. He placed a hand over mine and directed it towards Mission's chest. I could feel Force energy radiate from his fingertips and around my hand. "Get to work."
"Of course." I relaxed my control and allowed the older man to mold the raw Force energy that I provided. It wove into the healing light that he produced and sank into Mission's body.
There was a calming, almost meditative quality in healing Mission. The strange old man was a powerful anchor.
Mission's eyes finally half-opened. "Z?" she slurred. One groggy arm shifted outwards.
I caught it at the wrist and directed it back to the cot. "Mission? It's Bastila."
Mission blinked and squinted. She stared out confused, suspicious. "Where's Z?" Her words strung together and she tried again with sleepy sighs. "Zaal... Zaalbar. Where'zeeat?"
"Damn kids don't ever know what's good for them," Master Bindo snorted. "It's past your bedtime, little missy." He waved a hand. "Go back to sleep."
Mission's head fell back limp.
"Master Bindo–"
"Name's just Bindo," he said. "I don't need any of that 'Master' crap."
"Will Mission be alright?" I asked.
"Her?" Bindo's nostril's flared in the Twi'lek's direction. "Oh yeah. Sure, sure. The troublemakers tend to stick around. She is a troublemaker, isn't she?"
"That's certainly one way of putting it, yes," I replied.
"Well, then, what are you worried about." He placed a hand on my back and led me towards the door of the medical bay. "Let the child rest. Now, as for you. Can you make a sandwich as well as you heal sentients?"
"Beg pardon?"
"No sandwiches?" Bindo frowned. "I suppose I'll have to do something about that. You like nerf? I haven't had nerf in years. Just because tach meat looks similar doesn't mean they taste alike, blegh."
"Shouldn't we be trying to help Rian and the–"
"It's like tasting love between two slices of bread," he continued obliviously. "Now, the ingredients are key. You don't want to toss any old hunk of nerf on there like some sort of animal, no, only choice cuts. And the bread, you want it just right, crusty enough to have a bite, but definitely not stale. Mayo's good, but it's even better with my added secret ingredient, now telling you wouldn't be fair, since it's secret, but I suppose a hint wouldn't hurt..."
I took a deep breath. The Jedi Code would see me through this crisis. It would have to.
