Author's Note

I'm baaa-aaaack. And I've been looking forward to this chapter. :)

Go onward and enjoy!


Reunion Pt. 2

It's eerie. The sounds of running water, scampering rats, and their own footsteps echo off the tunnel walls. Beyond that lies only dead silence. None of them speak as their ears strain for any sign of something else. Something potentially sinister.

Mahin keeps expecting them to turn a corner to the sight of a dozen Stormtrooper helmets staring back at them.

Normally, she doesn't go looking for trouble like this. She hides, lets the storm blow over, and then runs when she gets the chance. Rarely does she even have to fight her way out of a situation, though she's definitely ready and willing if necessary. Still, she can understand the logic of cutting off a potential problem before it becomes something worse. Take down the enemy before they pull together whatever it is they're planning down here.

Hopefully, they don't find trouble this time. At least not the kind of trouble they can't handle.

"It's odd," Mando says after a while, helmet still doing its slow sweep back and forth as they move.

"What?" Karga prompts.

"There still aren't any footprints. People living down here would have left some kind of trace, and we would have found it by now."

"Maybe we went the wrong way?"

"They supposedly use that exit all the time, though."

"Alright," Cara says, "so what does that mean?"

"We're dealing with someone a lot more careful than the typical Imp or—"

Something tugs at Mahin through the Force, something so sudden and so insistent that she instantly reacts without thinking. She steps to the side, away from a darkened side-tunnel she didn't even notice until now.

Narrowly avoiding the gloved hand reaching out for her.

Mando spins before she can even call out, getting between her and the figure in the darkness and lashing out with a fist. The figure easily dodges. Karga and Cara swing their blasters around but the guy is fast, no more than a blur. Mahin just makes out big and broad and shiny. Then the guy kicks Karga's gun and flashlight out of his hands. The light spins, beams bouncing off the slick walls like strobe lights, disorienting. He then lunges at Mando.

Mahin quickly backs away to stand behind Karga and Cara, keeping her side with the child angled away from the flying fists and feet. The light finally stops spinning, pointed away from them and casting the writhing bodies in shadow.

Between Karga's and Cara's shoulders and the flap of Mando's cloak, Mahin swears she makes out a familiar shade of red.

Mando and the attacker fall to the ground. They grapple for a while, and then Mando manages to kick the other guy off of him, flinging him into the far wall and giving Mahin her first clear look.

Her heart practically gallops out of her chest at the sight of the full Mandalorian armor. A tall man in Mandalorian armor with red highlights.

Mando gets back to his feet first, drawing his blaster and aiming it at the other man's head.

"Ke'pare!" Mahin shouts desperately, urging them to wait.

Two Mandalorian helmets swivel towards her, the Mando'a jarring them both to a halt.

Mahin shoulders between Karga and Cara to get a better look at the man on the ground. Cara tries to grab her arm but she shakes her off. Hope drives her forward. More hope than she's felt in a long time. Her eyes trace over the familiar red accents of the man's armor and murmurs, "Ori'vod?"

The man's head tips to the side, truly taking her in for the first time.

"Mahin?" Luca's modulated voice asks in bewilderment.

Mahin's face splits open into a watery smile. "Ori'vod!"

Luca pushes himself up to sitting just as Mahin falls to her knees beside him. She wraps her arms around his neck in a tight hug that he instantly returns. He lets out an exaggerated grunt as her weight falls against him. "Kriff, Mahin, it's good to see you."

"I take it you know each other?" Cara asks amusedly, slowly lowering her blaster.

Mahin nods against Luca's shoulder. "Yeah. He's a good friend."

Luca gives her one last squeeze before gently pushing her away by the shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

"We heard reports of people in Mandalorian armor running around the tunnels," Mando replies, getting to his feet and then holding out a hand to each of them, "even though my covert is long gone by now. We came to look into it."

Mahin takes one hand while Luca takes the other and Mando pulls them both to their feet. Mahin lets go once she's up but Luca turns his grip into a handshake. "Good to see you again, vod."

"You, too. Did the rest of your covert make it out of Ulta-7 okay?"

"Yeah, everyone made it out fine. "

"Even your alor? I," Mando's hands clench at his sides, "I didn't want to leave her behind like that, but I…."

"It's alright," Luca cuts in, shaking his head. "She's got a few new scars, but my mother made it out in one piece."

"Good. That's…that's good."

"Hey." Luca places a hand on Mando's shoulder where it's free of armor, giving a reassuring squeeze. "She told you to go. You needed to leave to protect your ad'ika. And ours."

Mando's head tilts in a hint of irritation and amusement. "You know, she could have just asked for me to take Mahin along. She didn't have to sneak her on my ship."

Karga barks out a laugh. "You snuck on board Mando's ship?"

Mahin smiles ruefully. "Well, it was either that or get caught by Imps. I'd much rather face an irritated Mandalorian."

"I could have shot you," Mando points out.

"No, you wouldn't have," Luca teases. Mando just shakes his head but Mahin swears she hears a little chuckle. "Anyway, since you're down here, you want to see everyone else?"

"So there are other Mandalorians down here?" Cara asks. "Different than the ones from Mando's covert?"

Luca gives a silent look to Mahin and then to Mando, questioning.

"Don't worry," Mando reassures. "You can trust them. I thrust them with my life. And Mahin's and the kid's."

"Good," Luca nods, and then leads them down the tunnel. Everyone falls into step behind them, the tunnels no longer so ominous and stifling. "To answer your question, we are a different covert than the one your Mando comes from. As far as we can tell, they cleared out months ago."

"And you're the only ones down here?" Cara asks, just to be sure.

"Yep. We've scared off a few bandits with our traps, but other than that, it's just us." Luca looks back over his shoulder as he turns a corner, grates in the ceiling finally adding some light to the tunnels. "We've seen you around here, too, Marshall Dune. Thought we might have to show ourselves to you before long. Try to negotiate something so we don't have to run again."

"No need," Karga says. "Any friend of Mando's is a friend of ours. Stay as long as you like and we'll help make sure no one else knows you're here."

The line of Luca's shoulders drops slightly and he heaves a big sigh. "Thank you. That means a lot to us."

Mahin reaches for his hand and gives a firm squeeze. She knows how difficult running can be. Once you find a safe place, needing to give it up feels loathsome.

"Why'd you settle here of all places?" Mando asks in curiosity.

"Well, when we escaped Ulta-7, we didn't have the resources to go far. All of us barely managed to squeeze onto two ships, each with only enough fuel for one jump. While looking at our options, we remembered you. How you confirmed reports of the covert here on Nevarro getting run off. So we figured, what better place to start over than on a planet the Imps are sure they cleared?"

"And the Imps haven't circled back around at all to double-check?"

"We thought they might. But after a few weeks with no sign of them, we're pretty sure we're in the clear."

"They probably don't have the resources or manpower," Mahin comments thoughtfully. "Despite acting like the cockroaches they are and refusing to die, the Empire still isn't what it used to be. They probably can't afford to circle back around and make sure they were successful in flushing all the Mandalorians out of here."

"It's about time we caught a break with the Imps," Luca sighs tiredly. "Luck with the Imps comes more often now, since the rise of the New Republic, but still not nearly often enough."

They turn another corner down a tunnel a lot cleaner than those behind them. Soft, artificial light glows in the distance. The echo of a hammer on metal beats in time with Mahin's heart, quickening her steps as her mouth ticks up in a hopeful smile.

That up there is familiar voices and helmet faces. It's passing around drinks and laughter in the wee hours of the morning after Mahin delivers a new batch of supplies. It's playing games with children who have already seen too much, have so much more to face in the not-so-distant future, and taking a moment—just a moment—to remind them to be children, light and free. It's flaming heat and cooling metal and stories shared over a forge. It's safety and comfort wrapped up in beskar. It's being able to relax around other people for the first time in years.

The backs of Mahin's eyes sting. She didn't realize how much she missed this until now. Not truly.

The tunnel opens up into a larger room, several Mandalorians milling about talking together and cleaning weapons. Helmeted heads home in on them as they enter, zeroing in on the bare, unfamiliar faces of the group. A sudden stillness grips everyone. Hands tighten around blasters. The fight or flight response kicks in, instincts trying to decide which one to go with in that split second before action.

Excited gasps pop the bubble just as fast. The Mandalorian children in the room decide for everyone as they rush towards Mahin with boisterous shouts of her name and happy laughter.

Mahin laughs as well, dropping to her knees yet again as five sets of skinny arms try to engulf her at once. The child still held in the bag at her hip coos curiously as he inadvertently gets hugged as well.

"Oh, I missed you all so much!" Mahin giggles, doing her best to hug each child back all at once.

"Dank ferrik, Mahin," one of the adults in the room sighs, a woman Mahin recognizes as Ren Archer by the green swirls decorating her vambraces. She shakes her head fondly as she motions for the other Mandalorians to stand down and the rest of the tension in the room eases. "A little warning before entering a room full of armed warriors next time, yeah?"

Luca chuckles behind her. "Ah, come on, give her a break. She's just happy to see us."

"I am." Mahin gives the kid in her arms one last hug and then pushes to her feet again, smile so big her cheeks hurt. "I'm so happy to see you all. I've missed you."

"Where did you go?" the littlest boy asks, small hands tugging at Mahin's pantleg. "When we didn't see you on the ships, we thought…."

"Oh, no, don't worry," Mahin says softly, running her fingers through the boy's short dark hair. He's gotten taller since she last saw him, breaking her heart a little, but still a long way off from taking the Creed himself. "I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine."

"But where did you go?" the eldest girl asks, the T-visor of her helmet staring back at Mahin steadily. "Why didn't you come with us?"

"I just…." Mahin catches sight of Mando across the room, thumbs casually hooked into his belt as he watches on. She smiles. "I had somewhere else I needed to be."

"Is that your baby?" one of the other children gasps loudly. All of their eyes shoot down to the child cradled in the bag at her hip. "Did you have a baby while you were away?"

"What?" Mahin balks, a flame quickly spreading across her cheeks and down her neck. "No. No, no, no. I didn't…he's not..." She sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose. "He's a foundling, guys. Just like all of you. I'm helping Mando over there take care of him."

Their heads instantly snap over to Mando, five mouths opening with an impending bombardment of questions. Luckily, Luca speaks up to cut them off, "Alright, alright, enough with the interrogation. I'm sure the alor would like to see Mahin, too."

"Can we play with him while you talk to the alor?" the littlest one asks, brown eyes wide and pleading.

"I don't know," Mahin muses playfully, her eyes meeting Mando's visor over their heads. "You'll have to ask Mando."

Before they can even blink, the kids surround Mando, tugging at his arms and begging to play with the child. Mahin laughs as Mando tries to step back self-consciously, obviously overwhelmed and unsure what to do.

"Well, Mando, can they?" she asks teasingly. "Can they, please?"

"I, uh..."

"Don't worry," Ren adds through muffled laughter the modulator does nothing to hide. "We'll look after your foundling for you."

"We'll hang back, too," Karga pitches in, tilting his head towards Cara. "I'd like to meet this alor, too, when you're done though. Find out how we might all be able to work together here on Nevarro in the future."

Mando gives a hesitant nod, then a more sure one as he says, "Alright, then." Carefully, he steps around the foundlings' little feet until he can stand next to Mahin, taking the child from her bag. He then kneels on the ground to place the kid on his feet. "Go on," Mando encourages, giving the child a gentle push on the back when he looks up at Mando uncertainly. "Go play. We'll be right back."

The child toddles over to the foundlings on his short little legs, mouth opening in a bright smile as they cheer in excitement.

Maker, he doesn't get this often enough—playtime with other children.

With the child properly distracted, Mahin and Mando follow Luca further into the tunnels. The sharp rings of clanking metal echo even louder with each step they take. Clank, clank, clank. Followed by brief periods of silence.

Luca stops in front of a ratty curtain, drawing it away to reveal another doorway. Mahin steps through and the clanking stops altogether.

Melinda stands at her forge in a room different than their last hideout but surrounded by familiar tools. The glow of the forge shines against the alor's armor, making the red accents appear to almost burn like embers.

"Mahin," Melinda's voice calls out, clear and powerful like the hammer in her hand. "Vod. You have returned to us."

Mahin tries to stay calm. Composed. Really, she does. But it only takes a moment of looking at Melinda and Mahin's feet take her flying across the room. Melinda sets her tools down with a jarring clunk, far rougher than she ever handles her tools, and rounds the forge just as quickly.

They wrap their arms around each other in a bruising hug, Mahin's face pressed against the soft parts between Melinda's pauldron and chest plate.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Mahin mumbles against Melinda's shoulder, wetness leaking out to soak into the fabric at her cheek.

"I feared that as well." Melinda gives her one last squeeze and then pushes her back by the shoulders to get a good look at her. "But I knew you would be safe. I'm glad to see you are a man of your word," her head turns to look at Mando, "ner vod."

"Why didn't you just ask me to take her along?" he asks, not really mad, but curious. "Were you afraid I would say no to helping a Mando'ad?"

"Yes and no." Melinda returns to the forge to pick up her tools and return them to their proper places in the tool cabinet behind her. "No, I don't think you would ever refuse to help a Mando'ad. But Mahin is no Mando'ad, no matter how much we care for her. I also understand what it's like to be protective of your aliit. Accepting a stranger onto your ship would not have been a decision you could make lightly, and we did not have the time to waist."

"So you decided to sneak her onto my ship and make me deal with it later?"

Melinda shrugs unapologetically, tucking the last hammer away and closing up the cabinet. "It turned out well, did it not?"

Mando's helmet turns to Mahin and she can just imagine an unimpressed eye twitch going on. "Hey, don't look at me," she says. "My plan was to stay hidden until you landed somewhere and then sneak back out without you knowing I was there. Would have worked fine if the kid hadn't found me."

Mando lets out a hum, the sound soft and warm. "I'm glad he did."

She grins. Now that is an understatement. "It has been quite the wild ride since."

"Oh? Wild?" Melinda moves to the low table set to one side of the room that she uses for meetings. She kneels in front of it and gestures for them to do the same. "Sit. Tell me of your adventures among the stars. I'm sure you have many."

Mahin's smile turns mischievous. "Oh, so, so many."


"Excuse me, alor," Luca interrupts, sticking his head back inside the doorway many laughs and stories later. He sounds kind of…apologetic. Which is unusual for him, even after he gets caught by his mother pulling pranks. With Mahin by his side, usually. It makes Mahin's eyes narrow suspiciously.

Melinda's as well, based on her tone as she says, "Yes?"

"The kids were playing in one of the sewer tunnels. And, uh, before we knew it," he rubs a nervous hand against the back of his neck, "well, they're all a bit of a mess now."

Mando sighs deeply. "Mine, too?"

"Afraid so."

Mahin sighs as well. It wouldn't be a full day if the kid didn't make a mess somehow. Good thing Mahin has learned to come prepared. She digs her hand into the bottom of the kid's bag, pulling out a fresh robe that she made for the kid after realizing he only had the one brown one. Before she can get up, Mando presses a hand to her shoulder.

"Don't worry," he says, getting to his own feet. "I've got this."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." He takes the robe from her and heads out with Luca, muttering something about crazy kids that makes Luca laugh.

Mahin smiles after them. A Mandalorian changing a kid's soiled clothes. It sounds like the beginnings of a joke, but Mahin knows Mando truly cares about that child. It fills her with a warmth almost impossible to name.

Almost.

"You and our Mando'ad seem to have grown close during your travels," Melinda comments innocently, though the tilt of her helmet seems to imply anything but innocence.

Mahin feels the backs of her ears growing hot. "I, uh, yeah. We've become good friends. I've really enjoyed my time with him. With him and the child."

Melinda folds her hands together on the table. "Have you thought about what you will do next?"

"What do you mean?"

"You went with him, left us, to escape from the Empire. Now, you have found us again. You could," Melinda's hands squeeze together, almost imperceptivity, "you could stay here, on Nevarro. It would be easy for you to find work as a mechanic here and you could…rejoin us. We have truly missed you, ad'ika."

Mahin's fingers twist together in her lap. She looks down at them, fingertips going white, as she fights back the stinging in her eyes. "I…." Her voice cracks and she swallows, trying again. "I've missed you, too. All of you. And it almost killed me to have to leave you back on Ulta-7 but I…."

Melinda reaches across the table, palms held up and waiting. Slowly, Mahin places her hands in Melinda's. The leather of her gloves is warm and worn from the forge, as soft as her voice when Melinda asks, "Have you told him?"

"Told him what?"

"That you love him."

Mahin snatches her hands away as if burned, the flames climbing up to her face and down her neck and, well, her entire body might as well be on fire. "I-I…I'm not…I wouldn't say…." Melinda tilts her head at her and Mahin sighs, propping her elbows on the table and dropping her head into her hands in defeat. "Is it that obvious?"

"I don't think he has noticed, no," Melinda chuckles, pulling at Mahin's arms to make her drop her hands away. "Oh, ad'ika, it's alright."

"How is it alright?" Mahin mumbles, eyes darting all around the room. Her chest grows unbearably tight. "I…I fell in love with a Mandalorian. A man whose face I will never see and I may never know his name."

"Mandalorians have been with those outside the Creed before without forsaking the Way. It will be difficult, but it is possible. His name can be given with trust, a trust that I have no doubt you will gain. Soon, if I were to guess. And even though he is a Mandalorian who follows our more…rigid traditions, he still may show his face to his riduur once you wed."

Mahin's face gets even hotter, if possible. Might as well just chuck her into the forge now. "Woah, hey, it's a little early to be talking about marriage, don't you think?"

"Perhaps you're right." Melinda finds Mahin's hands again, squeezing reassuringly. "I am happy for you, Mahin. I'm glad you have found someone so special in your life."

"So you're not mad?" Mahin mumbles, glancing up at Melinda's visor through her bangs. "That I'm, you know, choosing to stay with him instead of staying here?"

"How could I be?" Melinda says, smile evident in her voice. "I have never seen you so happy."

Mahin smiles shyly. "Thank you." She hesitates and then pulls away, untucking the Mythosaur necklace she's worn every day out from under her shirt. The one Melinda gave her all those months ago when she had to run. "I…you should have this back."

Melinda shakes her head. "No, ad'ika. Keep it. It is yours. For no matter where you are or who you're with, you will always be part of this covert. Always."

Mahin smiles, slipping the pendant back on and clutching the beskar Mythosaur tightly. After her parents were killed, Mahin thought she'd always be alone. A drifter through space and through life. But now she has so many people who care for her. Who love her.

It will never replace her parents but maybe, just maybe, it means she's not destined for the life of solitude she once believed herself to be doomed to.


Author's Note

Yay, Mahin's covert is back! I always liked the idea of Nevarro being "home" to Din, so I really wanted to settle the covert here. The question was, when to do it. And for Mahin to admit that she has Feelings.

Speaking of which, it's time to crank that up a notch. Next chapter will be a lot of fun. :)

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


Translations

Ke'pare - wait

Ori'vod - big brother

Vod - brother

Alor - leader

Ad'ika - little one

Ner vod - my brother

Mando'ad - Mandalorian, singular

Aliit - clan, family

Riduur - partner, spouse, husband, wife