An Unbreakable Bond:

Twenty minutes after Ketsu watched Sabine and her Jedi riduur fly away in his red and black Kom'rk, along with the few remaining Clan Wren members in the two gold and silver ships, she was still sitting at their table and getting very, very impatient.

Her drumming fingers were justified, considering the fact that nearly all of the clans had cleared out already to prep for the coming war with the Empire. The Mandalorians had feasted, yes, but it had been in double time and with tension filling the air. They'd also skipped their usual hours of gossip and flirting that came with such events, instead packing up their tents with quick efficiency and hustling into the skies. Basically the only people left other than herself, her passengers waiting for a ride to Base One, and her brothers (who'd joined her at the Wren table after packing up their things), were those from Clan Kryze as they engaged in a strategy meeting with their Mand'alor and Rau.

Technically, Ketsu could have also left twenty minutes ago, with nothing of a business-like nature holding her back, but… she was waiting for Jett to return from taking her father to prison in the city with the necessary assistance of other members of Clan Onyo, and she didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to him and making plans to meet again. She didn't even have his comm code.

"Peace, Ketsu," Kanan said serenely from where he sat across from her, making her brothers chuckle from both sides of her. (Chopper was parked at the end of the table, deactivated, thank the Manda, because he'd been even worse than Ketsu, ranting about wasting time as he rolled circles around their table, manipulators waving about, and driving everyone nuts.)

She immediately clenched her hand into a fist to stop it from drumming and turned around slowly to look at the Jedi as opposed to the sky where Jett would be coming from. It still startled her to see Jarrus' cloudy, scarred eyes instead of a dark green jaig mask hiding half his features. (Apparently he'd lost it on Saxon's very blown up star destroyer - one of the stories he'd been keeping the Onyo siblings entertained with.) Ketsu glared at the bearded man who radiated calm like a shabla windless sea. "I hate waiting when I know I should be going," she grumbled, much to the amusement of her brothers, who'd already spent too much time teasing her for not paying attention to the Jedi's excellent stories.

Kanan's mouth quirked up under his moustache on one side. "A justified complaint that I'm sure most would agree with you on. But turning yourself into a bundle of nerves isn't going to make the water boil faster, the sun rise sooner, or the busy soulmate appear over the horizon quicker. Some things just can't be rushed, only accepted."

Ketsu wanted to growl, she really did. But the Jedi's words of wisdom were correct. As usual. (That got really annoying sometimes.) (Like now.) Instead of snapping at the man who was only lending some well deserved advice, Ketsu breathed in deeply and consciously made her muscles relax. Sort of. "Right. Peace. Got it. But I can't afford to wait too much longer – not if I'm going to be back for the thirty hour deadline."

Kanan's tiny smile turned into a full-blown grin, his (supposedly) unseeing gaze now pointed towards the sky. "Then it's a good thing our wait hasn't been in vain."

Ketsu gasped slightly and spun back around on the bench, only barely avoiding knocking Kendo off it in the process. Ignoring his grunt of pain as she booted him in the side, it only took her a second to spot the rapidly approaching kom'rk, painted in the Onyo clan colours of silver and royal purple. "Finally," she breathed, popping up to her feet. Her anxious purple eyes stayed glued to the Mandalorian ship as she watched it descend, and then she was all but running to where the pilot had parked it.

"I think it's safe to say that our sister is officially gone on the Super Commando," she heard her youngest brother say conspiratorially to Kent as they rose to follow her, rustling sounds indicating they were picking up all their baggage in the process.

Kendo laughed. "She always has been. You two are just too young to remember him when he was just a normal kid like you."

Ketsu smiled to herself, agreeing wholeheartedly with the first sentence, and picked up the pace a little more, her heart beating out a rhythm that definitely felt like, My Jett. My Jett. My Jett.

She was almost at her destination when the ramp lowered of the still loudly humming ship, bringing her to a stop at its base as the person her heart beat for started down it in a controlled rush, heavy boots ringing on durasteel. "Jett," she breathed, still amazed that he was back in her life and still loved her after she'd left him behind for so many years. Her feet felt frozen to the ground as she took in his confident strides, beautifully built warrior's body not at all hidden by the fitted blue tunic that covered him from thick neck to powerful thighs, white utility belt in the middle that emphasized his neat waist, and that glowing smile that said he was just as happy to see her.

"Kets'ika," he whispered huskily as he swept her up into his arms immediately upon his boots touching dry red earth. She wrapped her arms around his neck in return and pressed her forehead to his in a move that meant just as much – if not more - to Mandalorians as mouth kissing did. After she stared into his earnest, beskar silver eyes for a perfect eternity, she sighed with relief to be holding him again and closed her eyes, just relishing the moment. "Sorry I was gone so long," he murmured. "Took longer to find an appropriate prison for… um, him, than I thought." (She appreciated that he refrained from calling her evil father by name.) "Our forces did too good of a job blowing up anything that had been used as an Imperial location, which included all the prisons."

Ketsu pulled back a little, eyes suddenly wide. "We did make sure there were no Mandos in those prisons first before destroying them, right?"

Jett chuckled a little before nuzzling his nose into her temple. "Of course, my kind-hearted bounty hunter. From all the reports that I've heard so far, there have been a relatively low number of Mandalorian casualties."

"That's good to hear."

Ketsu settled back on her own toes at the sound of her older brother's voice, but didn't let go of Jett completely, keeping one arm around his waist as she turned to face her siblings who looked hilarious with so many bags - consisting mostly of tents and leftover supplies - hanging off them. A couple of her cousins appeared at the top of the ramp and made their way down at a jog too to help relieve their new Count of his burdens. Ketsu and Jett stepped out of their way, but stayed basically attached at the hip, his arm around her shoulders making it easy.

Kendo murmured his thanks to the men as the younger brothers grumbled at being ignored and trudged up the ramp, looking like weary pack animals. Ketsu sniggered under her breath, earning a smirk from her elder brother. "That's what younger siblings are for, right? Carrying all the bags?"

Kewan, overhearing Kendo as the teenage boys had been meant to, shot back over his shoulder, "Shab gar, vod."

Kendo snorted, shaking his head fondly before turning his suddenly serious and hard purple gaze on Jett. "Speaking of… If I ever find out that you've hurt Ketsu in any way, I will turn you into diced mooka meat, got it?"

Ketsu watched her cyar'ika smile slowly and hold out his free hand. "Understood, ori'vod."

Kendo raised an eyebrow at being called big brother, but he got the point that Jett considered her family his own now too, his own smile growing as he grasped Jett's wrist and they gripped each other in male understanding, eyes and wrists locked for a solid half-minute. Ketsu beamed at her men for being so amazing and lovable, her heart singing at having her two favourite people (that weren't her best friend, Sabine) back in her life again.

The men let go of each other with a subtle nod, and then Kendo crossed his arms over his wide chest as Jett squeezed Ketsu a little harder to his side. "So… Hark. Where are you going from here? You need a ride somewhere? Up to one of those star destroyers that we took over, maybe?"

Jett shrugged slightly. "My men all checked in already and things are going fine up there. I was planning on going back to the Saxon stronghold to see how things are fairing now that Tiber is gone. If I don't like who's decided to take his place, I might challenge for the right to lead."

Kendo looked impressed. Ketsu certainly was. "Then we can drop you off there. Your lands aren't that far from ours."

Alarmed at the possible immanent loss of Jett's presence already, Ketsu quickly jumped in. "I can drop you off!"

Jett smiled sweetly at her, touching her jaw in a gentle caress of his thumb as he met her eyes. "I would like that."

Her brother laughed. "It's out of your way, little sister. Aren't you supposed to be delivering supplies and a Jedi back to the Rebellion?"

She turned a glare at the di'kut that should have fried him in his armour. "Don't care."

Kendo held his hands up in surrender and started backing up the ramp. "Fine. I won't try and get between you and your cyar'ika. I'll talk to you later."

Ketsu showed her brother many teeth in something that might be called a smile if one's vision were seriously impaired. "You do that. Now go away."

He was already halfway up the ramp and sniggering so hard, he could barely speak. "Going. I'm going. Geez. Temperamental as ever."

Ketsu gave her brother a one fingered gesture, which only made him laugh harder, but she wasn't watching him anymore – her eyes were glued once again to Jett's gorgeous silver ones as he rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. "My fiery cyar'ika," he husked, sounding immensely proud of that fact.

With such a perfect invitation, how could she not kiss the pad of his thumb? "Always," she replied breathlessly before sucking it into her mouth for a couple of seconds, licking at the strong digit like a dainty kitten.

Jett's pupils blew wide instantly. "Shab, what you do to me, woman." Then he was cupping the back of her head and his mouth was devouring hers.

Ketsu kissed him back just as eagerly, wishing she could lose herself in him forever and that they didn't have to leave right away.

She might have let him kiss her indefinitely if Kendo hadn't yelled from the top of the mostly retracted ramp, "You two better move or you're going to get torched when we take off!"

Since neither wanted that to happen, Ketsu and Jett reluctantly parted and backed away from the ship, Ketsu waving goodbye to her brother as she went and receiving a wave in return before he closed the ramp the rest of the way, sealing the kom'rk just seconds before the thrusters activated and rose the sleek, triangular-shaped starfighter into the air. She was still close enough that she had to brace against the rush of heated air.

Ketsu watched the ship fly away, disappearing over the horizon in only seconds with a burst of impressive speed. I hope I see all my brothers again. The upcoming battle with the Empire is going to be bad, I just know it. Please, Manda, let me see them again. I just got them back.

Ketsu was drawn from her melancholy thoughts by a large hand slipping into hers and threading their fingers together. "Hey, they'll be fine. I'll put the word out in my clan to pay particular attention to the Wren and Onyo ships and to help them out if they get in trouble."

Ketsu looked up at Jett and gave him a grateful smile, squeezing his fingers. How he always seemed to know what she was thinking and then have the right thing to say amazed her more often than not. "Thanks, Jett'ika."

"It's nothing," he smiled back. "Just family taking care of family, like we should." He tugged her towards the remaining tents. Ketsu followed instantly without complaint, a flutter of hope that he was taking her somewhere private(ish) for a really good reason dying a step later as he explained with, "Come on, I have to get my gear and then we can go too."

"Okay."

Apparently she didn't hide the disappointment in her tone well enough, because Jett looked down at her as they walked, his mouth quirking up with wry understanding. "I know, babe, it sucks that we don't have more time. But… After the battle, I'll give you a whole week's worth of my time devoted entirely to making you cry my name, how's that sound?"

Ketsu's core literally melted at the promise and all of the images that flooded her mind with possibilities, making her stumble slightly. It took her a second to pull herself together enough to answer, certain she would overheat from unresolved sexual tension before they ever got around to making mutual pleasure together. She smothered her libido back down with determination and gave her soulmate a look that promised he'd be calling her name just as much. "That sounds as close to perfect as we're going to get, so I'll take it."

Jett laughed, his eyes flashing with teasing heat. "I think you'd take my offer even if it was only for a five minute quickie in a refresher."

Ketsu sucked in a breath. "Stars, yes! Can we do that too?"

Jett stopped, his eyes widening. "Wait, you're serious, aren't you?"

"Very."

Now it was his turn to suck in a breath and he started pulling her double-time towards the remaining Kryze tents. "Shabla haran. No way am I turning that down."

Ketsu giggled, jogging to keep up with his ground-eating strides and more or less ignoring the way everyone left in the eating area followed them with curious and knowing eyes (especially the smirking Jedi who was waiting patiently for her to take him back to his own mate). "I'd be very surprised if you did."

Jett shot her a look as he pushed the flap open on the second tent in the row after the big, communal one. (The pile of Imperial white armour by the door explained why he'd picked that particular tent, and it definitely wasn't for the quickie like she'd originally hoped and what everyone who'd seen them probably assumed.) "We literally just met again after being apart for seven years. I thought I was being nice by easing our relationship back into the more intimate things, but…"

"But we're going to war, there's no guarentee I'll ever see you again after today, and shab, you make me so hot, it hurts," she continued when he paused for breath, stating the hard truth as she put her hands on his firm chest once the tent flap closed behind them.

Jett swallowed visibly, gaze turning solemn as he cupped her face in gentle, calloused hands. "I didn't want to say that out loud, but yes, exactly."

Ketsu wasn't one to give into sorrow often, but the reality of their current situation was making her eyes sting. To hide the weakness, she leaned her forehead into his chest, breath shuddering through her body as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, chin resting on top of her head. "I don't… I don't want to lose you, not now that I've just found you again," she whispered into the tunic her hands were now clenched in.

She felt him take a long, deep breath, chest expanding and warm air blowing over her skin. "I can't promise that neither of us will die tomorrow, but what I can promise is that if we do, we'll do it together."

Ketsu had to look up at that. "What do you mean?"

"You have your own ship, right? The one you were going to drop me off with?"

"Yes."

The smile he gave her was both heartbreakingly mournful and sweet as he rubbed her back soothingly. "Well, come pick me up again when you get back from your delivery run. I'm sure I can coordinate my men and clan from there just as easily as any other ship I might be on. That way, if you go down in the fight, I'm going down with you. I don't want to live without you again. Ever."

There was no way Ketsu could control her leaking eyes after hearing that. And she didn't even bother to try. Instead, she reached up and cupped her beloved soulmate's face in her hands and drew his head down to hers so that she could whisper against his mouth, "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, ner atin, di'kutla, mirdala, cyar'ika."

His silver eyes melted and sheened over as he wiped away her tears with his thumbs tenderly. "Kets'ika. Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, ner mesh'la, dral, ka'r be ner runi."

Tears of happiness and fear were still trickling down her face and over his hands as Jett kissed her so sweetly that it felt like each beat of her aching heart might be the one that connected them forever through some mystical Force magic.

Ketsu didn't know if two non-Force sensitives could bond like Sabine and Hera had with their Jedi, but it certainly felt like her soul was going to cling to Jett's until the end of time, whether they survived the coming war or not.

Mando'a translations:

Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum – I love you. (But literally, I will know you in my heart forever.)

Ner atin, di'kutla, mirdala, cyar'ika. – My stubborn, foolish, clever, beloved soulmate.

Ner mesh'la, dral, ka'r be ner runi. – My beautiful, bright, star of my soul.