Title: Unknowns

author: Cindy Ryan

notes and summary: See part one

For a long moment Cara thought Din was going to refuse. Then he kissed her once more and stood. Cara watched as he took off the remains of the suit. When he returned to her Cara kissed him deeply then stepped back and undressed letting her clothes fall to the floor.

"Beautiful."Din breathed in a hoarse voice.

Cara smiled and stepped closer. She touched his face still amazed by the novelty that she could. Din kissed her and pulled her down onto the bed.


Cara awoke before the sun had risen to find the bed next to her empty. She sat up and looked around the small room. Cara found Din leaning against the window frame staring out. He was wearing the full Mandalorian gear.

"Din?"Cara called softly.

"Go back to sleep."Din suggested in a distracted tone.

Cara rose to her feet wrapping the sheet around her. She walked over to the bounty hunter.

"Talk to me."Cara said as she reached out with her right hand to lightly touch his shoulder.

Din reached up and covered Cara's hand with his own. Then he drew it down and linked their hands. Cara squeezed his. She could feel his turmoil.

"If The Child lives I was thinking I could use your help returning him to his species or to the Jedi."Din responded. "I know your work with Karga is important..."

"I want to help him get home."Cara stated softly. "Everyone deserves peace and home. Reality is that not all of us get that."

Din nodded. Silence descended and after a few moments Din broke it.

"Tell me about your dream."Din prompted gently.

Cara broke Din's grasp and leaned against the other side of the window staring out at the night. Being intimate with Din had quieted the dark memories but the feelings the dream had brought were still there beneath the surface.

"I was part of cleanup after the battle of Endor."Cara began as she wrapped her arms around herself. "We found a contingent of troopers on the far edge of the forest. They shot our ship down. We'd been skimming just above the trees so we crashed near them. They had a walker with them. It took out the ship not that we could've escaped in that. The explosion set the trees on fire. I can still smell the smoke..."


Din wanted to pull Cara into an embrace but he knew she wasn't done with the story. Knew she wouldn't accept the comfort yet.

"The troopers were on speeder bikes."Cara continued. "We managed to get a few bikes away from them. Most were wrecked and exploded into trees. The walker kept firing. One of my team got on a speeder bike and managed to wrap a repel line around a tree and one of the walker's legs. He was crushed to death in the walker's fall. The troopers scattered after that. We took out the remaining ten that stayed to fight. "

"How many survived from your team?"Din asked.

"A dozen out of thirty."Cara responded bitterly. "I was knocked half unconscious by the explosion of the walker's fall. I don't remember being pulled out of there; just the trees burning."


"It's incredible that your team took out a walker. Especially in those close quarters."Din commented as he drew Cara into his arms.

"In the dream all I could hear was the explosions. It was like I was caught in a spiral of darkness and fire and I couldn't find my way out."Cara explained her voice barley above a whisper.

Din felt her body tremble and he held her tighter. It was no wonder she'd cried out during the nightmare. He'd had more than a few dreams like that.

"I'm sorry about your team."Din responded gently.

"I was able to get a few to safety behind the trees before the walker went down."Cara added. "I wish I'd been able to do more but..."

"You did all you could."Din said softly.

"It doesn't feel like it."Cara commented anger in her voice.

"I know."Din acknowledged as he took off his helmet.

Needing to touch Cara's skin Din took off his gloves and set them on the small dresser. He cradled her face in his hands gently wiping the few tears that had fallen.

"You are one of the strongest bravest women I know."Din complimented huskily.

Din kissed her for several minutes each kiss longer and deeper than the one before. When they broke apart Cara nestled against him. Together they stood in silence watching the sun come up over the water.