Author's Note

Whelp, another hurricane season, another hurricane. Or tropical storm. Whatever.

Elsa has been knocking on my door for the past several hours. Somehow I even managed to sleep through the tornado warning. But she's starting to edge away from my neck of the woods. I think I might have actually made it through this storm without losing power for once. Knock on wood.

Just in case, though, have another chapter!

Go onward and enjoy!


Partner Pt. 1

Mahin actually remembers the name Tatooine. Unlike other planets. Mainly because Mando mentioned the planet a few times now, along with the town Mos Eisley. He told her the story late at night with the kid tucked in bed, the two of them sitting in the cockpit watching the stars go by.

Something changed after that night on the cockpit floor, their sides pressed together and hands intertwined. Mahin woke up the next morning tucked in bed, blankets pulled up to her chin, and the scent of gun oil and trees and rain still lingering around her.

It broke down a few of their walls. For both of them.

They pass most evenings in space like that now. Sitting in the cockpit together, darkness pushed back only by the stars and console lights. They reflect off Mando's beskar, giving him a glow as soft as a moon hanging over the horizon.

Even though they both face the viewport, Mahin watches him more often than not. He hasn't noticed. At least, she hopes he doesn't.

Now that would be embarrassing.

But it's hard to keep her eyes from him sometimes. Her mind as well. As odd as that sounds even to her own ears. Why does she feel such a strong pull to this Mandalorian, so much stronger from all the other Mandalorians she's met?

It's a mystery. One her curious mind can't help but pick at. She wonders if it doesn't have to do with that phrase he used. Ner ka'ra. She recognizes it as Mando'a but hasn't had the courage to ask what it means yet.

Some nights the silence hangs between them as a comforting blanket, both of them just enjoying the company. The feeling that they're not alone. But sometimes they talk. About mundane things. Things she's done with the kid. Antics the little one likes to get up to. About the bounties Mando hunts, the places he finds them and the kind of trouble he gets into trying to bring them in.

Sometimes they talk about their childhoods. Nothing heavy. Just little anecdotes of the mischievous kids they used to be.

Mahin, at least, isn't ready for the heavy stuff. For the truth. She doesn't know if she'll ever be ready to tell that story. But she can give him this.

Their storytelling, of course, eventually takes him to Peli Motto and a tale of a hunt through the desert, betrayal, and a woman who was willing to protect the child after only knowing him a few hours.

Mahin definitely understands that sentiment. The little guy has a way of wrapping people around his three little fingers. And it never takes very much at all.

So when Mando mentions Tatooine as their next stop, excitement bubbles up in Mahin at getting to meet Peli. A woman she suspects Mando considers one of his—very few—friends.

The spaceport of Mos Eisley is set up as a giant circle, with the main building containing the office and workshop ringed by hangers for ships to park in. Mando parks the Razor Crest in one of the empty hangers with a practiced ease that makes Mahin's fingers twitch.

She really needs to ask Mando to let her fly one of these days.

They go through their usual routine after landing. Mahin follows Mando into the hold with the kid in her arms, the two of them watching as Mando selects his gear for the hunt, but when the rear ramp lowers Mando doesn't say goodbye and run off yet. Though it's not like he can. Not with the woman standing in the way, hands on her hips with a look hotter than brimstone.

Peli's brown curls hang like wildfire around her head as she stares up at the Mandalorian with a weathered face that takes no nonsense. Her lips set in a deep frown, big eyes looking Mando up and down critically before she lets out a huff. "Well, look what the bantha decided to drag in."

Mahin barely holds in a snort. Mando told her Peli was more than a little nervous of him when they first met. That definitely seems to have worn off by now.

Mando must like associating with short mechanics who aren't afraid to stand up to him.

"Peli," Mando greets with a nod of his head. "Good to see you, too."

"So let me guess. You got in another shootout out there in space and I'm gonna have to fix up your hunk of junk ship without droids again."

"No, actually. The Crest's running fine. Thanks to her."

Mando turns to the side to look back at Mahin, drawing Peli's full attention to her still standing in the shadow of the ship's interior. Mahin shuffles forward to stand next to Mando at the bottom of the ramp offering Peli a wide smile.

"Mahin, this is Peli Motto," Mando says, hesitating a moment before continuing. "Peli, this is Mahin LaMontagne. My partner."

Mahin blinks up at him, trying to hold in how kriffing startled she feels at that word so it doesn't show on her face. Partner. Like equals. Mechanic, babysitter, those words feel more appropriate to describe her. At least, that's all she thought she meant to him. Either term would have sufficed. But instead, he calls her partner.

He calls her partner to someone he considers a friend.

"Well, well, well," Peli says, not holding in her own surprise at all as she rocks back on her heels. "Never thought I'd see the day. Especially after what happened last time."

Mahin's mouth twists in a grimace at the thought of Toro. "I'm not stupid enough to try to double-cross a Mandalorian. Besides, I'm really in it for this little guy." She bounces the kid on her hip, eliciting a happy little squeak from him.

Peli immediately brightens at the sight of the kid, making grabby hands for him. "Oh, thank the Force! This little thing had me worried sick!"

Mahin shoots Mando a quick glance to be sure. At his nod she hands the child over, allowing Peli to cradle him in her arms. Peli sways back and forth on her feet with him, talking with a light, slightly exaggerated voice most people take on when talking with a baby.

"So," Mahin draws out as she and Mando watch the kid soak in Peli's attention. He babbles a mile a minute almost like he's catching Peli up on his travels since he last saw her. "Partner, huh?"

"It's what you are," he replies simply, keeping his helmet trained towards the child with his thumbs hooked in the belt at his waist.

She shifts on her feet, unable to keep the self-doubt from picking away at the back of her mind. They've never needed to define what they are to each other before. A part of her likes to think that maybe—possibly—they're becoming friends. Partner suggests a level a trust, though, something she didn't expect he'd give her. Not yet, at least. "I don't exactly help you with catching bounties. I work on your ship. I'd expect crewmate, maybe, but not partner."

"You did help with that one once."

That quarry from that one planet she still can't remember the name of. She tripped him so Mando could catch up and cuff him. Mando never did admit that she helped no matter how much she teased him about it.

Until now.

Mahin's eyes sparkle as she grins up at him, poking him in his side exposed between the beskar. "You admit it!" she crows, poking him again. He edges away from her with a grumble but she just moves closer again for another poke. "You admit I helped!"

"No, never mind, I take it back," he deadpans as he bats her hand away without any real heat. "I take it all back. I'm calling you my lacky next time."

"No take backs!" she grins but relents with the poking, not wanting to go too far and make him uncomfortable. Though he seems oddly relaxed here. She wonders if it's this planet that he's circled back to many times before, being in Peli's garage where he knows it's safe, or something else.

"So, you're taking care of this hunk of junk, huh?" Peli asks as she rejoins them, the child nestled against her chest with his fingers curled into the front of Peli's red coveralls. She gives Mahin the same onceover she gave Mando, only this time with a lot more judgement.

Mahin's fingers tap restlessly against the side of her thigh. Is this what it's like to stand in the principal's office? She never had formal schooling but the trepidation and wish for approval feel like it might be the same.

Still, she was never one to cow under a little intimidation.

"The Razor Crest really isn't a hunk of junk, you know," Mahin points out, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her own faded green coveralls to still them. "It may be pre-Empire and you can't get the parts anywhere anymore, but it still flies really well. It just needs lots of love."

Peli snorts. "Lots of love, alright. Almost every time I see it, it looks to be on its last leg. Literally. That landing gear is a menace."

"Oh, you mean how it liked to get stuck and only come halfway out? Yeah, I fixed that."

Peli's brow shoots to her hairline. "Seriously? You fixed that? Not even I could figure out the problem. Not without the droids anyway."

Mahin gives a small shrug. "Yeah, it really wasn't that hard once I realized what the problem was. The hydraulics were just getting a bit fussy, but they're all good now."

Peli hums, impressed as she looks the ship over again. "I see you haven't taken care of that carbon scoring up top though."

"Yeah, well, I'm fun-sized and we don't have a droid since Mando doesn't like them. So without a scaffold or at least a ladder, I'm not getting up there." Mahin's eyes wander around the hanger, spotting random bits of parts, tools, and what looks to be a fully equipped workshop through an open door. "You know, I've been thinking about building handholds into the ship's outer hull. That way I can climb up whenever I need to, but I'm worried about compromising the aerodynamics of the ship."

Peli nods in understanding. "Yeah, I can imagine. One wrong alteration and your ship won't make it out of the atmosphere anymore. May even blow up on you."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of, but I think I can figure it out." She arches a brow at Peli. "With a little help and access to your workshop? I can pay."

"I'll pay," Mando interjects, plucking the kid out of Peli's arms and returning up the ship's ramp.

Mahin frowns at his back. "I can pay for it, Mando. It's not something we actually need. It's something I'd like to have. So I should pay for it."

"You need it to help take care of the ship," he calls back from inside the cargo hold before coming back out a moment later with the child's pram floating behind him, the kid already nestled inside. "So I'm paying for it and that's final."

"Look, I don't care who pays for it, so long as I'm paid." Peli snaps her fingers at the far side of the hanger where three droids with single optics and domed heads jump to attention. "Go get my tool kit! We've got work to do."

"Remember," Mando starts but Peli cuts him off.

"No droids, I know, I know." She waves him away as she walks off to go look through a supply of sheet metal.

"You going out for your hunt?" Mahin asks as she unties the sleeves at her waist to pull her coveralls up and wear them properly. She zips it up to just below her collarbone, already feeling her mind fall into the puzzle set before her.

"Yeah." Mando moves his arm so the pram floats over to Mahin. Mahin then presses a button on her own control cuff to bind it back to her side. "Won't take long. I should be back by nightfall."

Mahin offers him a soft smile, stepping towards the ship's ramp to go collect her toolbox. "Stay safe," she says as she moves past him, giving his forearm a light squeeze without really thinking about it.

When his hand shoots out to grasp her wrist, she freezes, wide eyes staring up at him in caution. Not fear—she knows deep in her bones he'd never hurt her—but worried she went too far. Neither of them are the best with touch, but after that night in the cockpit and the handholding she thought, well….

She doesn't really know what. But that kernel of hope still sits in her chest.

She expects a reprimand, gruff and biting. She braces for it in the following silence, his hand still wrapped around her wrist as Mando holds himself as still as a statue.

But then he moves, hand sliding down to grasp hers, fingers squeezing with a hesitance someone as confident and assured as him normally would never show.

"Thank you, ka'ra," he says softly as she stares up into his metal mask. Her lips slightly part wishing for words that don't come. But maybe they're not needed, she thinks as his thumb slides along hers. Not right now. The silence can speak enough.

And then he's gone, cloak flapping behind him as he exits the hanger.

Mahin takes in a deep breath to ground herself, letting it out slowly.

She really wants to know what that word means. She's pretty sure "ner" is my or mine. But "my" what? My partner? And this time he just called her ka'ra.

Whatever it means, it makes her stomach twist in a way that's...not really bad. But definitely something she's never felt before.

She shakes her head at herself, shoving those thoughts away as she continues towards the ship for her tools. That's a mystery for another day. For now, she has a different puzzle to solve, to make it easier for her to take care of their home.


Author's Note

Writing Peli is interesting lol. But I really like her relationship with Mando. I sincerely hope she shows up again in the show.

As you can tell from the title, we aren't done with Peli yet. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up in the next day or two.

Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!


Translations

Ner ka'ra - My star