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Chapter One:

The Cottage Between Mountains

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Din Djarin's first encounter with the woman that would eventually become his wife was… a little unusual, as far as jobs went.

Movet was a cold world; not in the frozen wasteland category like Hoth, but vibrant and alive; cold - with some seasonal variance. It was early summer now. The snow in the valleys had melted, but still clung to the stone-faced mountain peaks that loomed over everything like elder gods. The valleys between grew flowers that dusted the landscape with every color, dotting the grass as the stars did the sky.

There wasn't much this far north; the nearest town was nearly forty kilometers away. The bounty was clearly self-sufficient; capable of surviving the elements and predators he knew to roam the Movetian mountains.

The bounty puck had called for a woman by the name of Ena Sma, and the fob at his hip was blinking up at her. She was on the roof of her little cottage in the middle of nowhere, replacing shingles and strengthening the supports that had been weakened during the winter snows.

She was busy, distracted, and not at all impressed by his Mandalorian obscurity and bounty hunter posturing.

To his knowledge, she was an ex-spice runner that had spied for the Empire. He assumed she was wanted by one of the cartels she had delivered information on. In essence, a bounty that would not weigh on his conscience.

Spies could be tricky, though, especially one that had the gall to deal with the Empire at the expense of spice dealers. To minimize his chances of being detected, the Mandalorian had skirted her territory, careful to program a descent vector that avoided flying directly overhead, and landed about 20 kilometers out, putting him beyond the security field his sensors had detected.

From there, things had gone smoothly. The security field had been easy to disable; the emitters weren't hard to find and not particularly complex, making him suspect that the fence was for animals. To keep them out or in, Din wasn't sure.

Now that he was here, he understood. The fence was to keep the bounty's animals in. And Kriff, what animals they were. Lounging about the rolling field that surrounded the house and barn were massive wolf-like canines with sloping backs and shaggy summer coats. From what he could see, most of them came up to his chest; when one yawned he could see its curved fangs were the length of his thumb.

Perhaps they were why she was so unconcerned by the presence of a bounty hunter. He could see the sled tucked away by the house and the wolf-sized harnesses adorning the side of the barn on hooks, but it wasn't hard to imagine that they'd been trained to attack as well as pull.

The Mandalorian rested a hand on his blaster in its holster, but didn't draw it.

The bounty stared down at him appraisingly. Her auburn hair pulled back into a messy braid glowed in the sun; individual strands of blonde and red glittering when she moved. She was wrapped in natural furs and leathers, clad in heavy boots with a hammer in hand.

"What's the name?" She asked finally. Her thick Movetian accent curled elegantly around the words, brusque but with a lilt that was pleasant to the ear.

Din blanked. "Name?"

"The bounty. Which name?"

He tilted his helmeted head. He was used to his bounties running, fighting, or making bribes. This was new.

She began to get impatient. "On the puck. The name. What is it?"

Uncertain what reaction to expect, he said, "Ena Sma."

She nodded thoughtfully, her lovely heart shaped face pulled into a frown as she went back to absentmindedly puzzling the shingles together with her hammer.

Din waited for her to work through her thoughts. He knew where she was. She wasn't going anywhere. There weren't any weapons or backup for her to be stalling for - at least as far as he could figure. He could afford to wait a few minutes - for curiosity's sake, if nothing else.

Movet was a beautiful planet; or at least it used to be. It was the fourth planet in the Hibigea system, which played an important role in the Empire's mining efforts. Worlds like Movet had been stripped away in chunks, layer by layer, until the once pristine and practically untouched mineral deposits had been bled dry and the ecosystems trampled and poisoned beyond recognition. Regarding the fact that the Empire had dissolved only a year prior, it was nice to see places like this had survived. Even if it was buried deep in the planet's almost uninhabited wilderness, where there had been less Empire activity.

He had to appreciate her choice of location. A small cabin tucked away in a flower-filled valley between snow capped mountains, framed by monolithic evergreen woodland and in sight of the river. It was a lonely existence, but perfect if you didn't want to be bothered.

Din could think of worse places to retire.

Finally, the bounty looked up. She fixed him with her clear grey stare and said, "10,000 credits."

He couldn't help but be a little disappointed. "I don't take bribes."

Her glare sharpened. "I didn't finish."

The Mandalorian frowned under his helmet. He tilted his head, inviting her to continue.

She balanced expertly over to the ladder and hopped down it, light on her feet. Dusting off her hands, she strode over to stand fearlessly before him. Now that they were level, he could see that her height was average, if a little on the short side. Her build was mostly hidden by her clothes, but a bit squat and stocky. Generally unremarkable, but still rather pretty.

The top of her head only just made it to his chin, but the severe look in her eyes leveled him, making him feel as if she were still looking down at him from the roof.

She laid out the deal. "10,000 credits. Your choice in currency. You still take me in and cash in the bounty like normal."

Wary, he tipped his visor down. "What do you get out of it?"

She sniffed. "You let me finish my roof. You look the other way at any weapons I take with me. When we part, you say nothing about me or this place to anyone. Ever. Deal?"

It made sense now. She wasn't going to squabble with hunters for her freedom; she was going to the source. He wasn't sure if taking her deal went against Guild Code or not. Even if it did, did it matter? As long as it couldn't get traced back to him, what did the life of a spice lord or two mean to him? A lot less than 10,000 credits.

"Fine." He glanced up at the roof. "How long till you're done?"

She gave a satisfied nod and turned her calculative gaze back to her work. "The rest of the day. We can leave at first light."

"No," he bit out, disliking the idea of staying on a quarry's home terf longer than he had to. Even if they'd struck a deal, he'd be at her mercy. "Tonight."

She scowled, hands perched on her hips. "You stay here at the house. You die in the forest. Doesn't mean a damn thing to me. I'll make the deal with the next hunter to come along."

She couldn't see his mouth open to retort, but held up a finger to silence him anyway.

"You'll stay here tonight. There's an extra room. I'll feed you." Without confirming if he accepted this or not, she turned away and went back up her ladder. Once at the top, she looked over her shoulder to add, "If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead. You're safe here, so long as we're on the same page."

No longer interested in him, she went back to tap, tap, tapping at the shingles and didn't say another word for the rest of the day.

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