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Chapter 7

demagolka – Mandalorian for 'really, really bad person'

~X~

"Your mistakes don't define you. It's what you do after the mistake that matters."

~Cin Vhetin~

The following day, Din was pleased that his leg felt stronger, with him being able to walk on it without much pain at all. It was a good sign; one that strengthened his determination to leave Pessue and be on their way. His only regret was he knew the kid would miss Ravana and the zaktan. Still, there was no way around it.

She'd been kind enough to fix them a small bag of food to take, saying that kids needed snacks, and Din was not about to disagree with her. Anything to keep the little womp-rat from swallowing down frogs whole, he was all for.

He chose to walk to the Razor Crest, as opposed to taking the Rising Phoenix, and while he said it was because he wanted to test out his leg, he knew his real reason was simply to spend the last of his time in Ravana's company. Yes, the kid liked her a lot, and had been a bit fussy all morning over their departure, but Din had to admit that he would also miss the woman. She'd been a big help and had been good company as well, something his solo lifestyle had not afforded him much of over the years. Yet, just as before, he would move on – the only difference being that this time he had the kid with him.

"Now you two look out for each other," Ravana instructed, once what little they were taking with them had been loaded on the Razor Crest. "And don't let the String-bean eat all the food in one sitting." Here she reached out and caressed the kid's ears affectionately, eliciting a cross between a laugh and a coo from him in return.

"Are you sure you'll be all right?" Din questioned, still worried about the man from the village giving her trouble.

"Oh, I can handle Tannor," Ravana assured him with a wave of her hand. "I've known how to use a weapon since I was ten. I'll be fine."

Din chose to take her word for it, knowing that there was little else he could do short of staying – and that was not an option.

"Thank you again for all your help," he said, hating to actually say the words good-bye.

"It was my pleasure," she nodded, giving him a wide smile. "And if you two are ever in the neighborhood, feel free to fly in for some tea. All the Mandalorians do, you know."

"That's what I've heard," Din chuckled, once again, knowing he would miss her razor-sharp wit.

Leaning in, Ravana placed a kiss on the top of the kid's head before stepping back.

"Safe journey," she wished them, obviously knowing it was time.

"You as well," Din replied. "And stay clear of dankers."

"Don't worry about me," Ravana said with a wink. "I have Zax to protect me." Here she looked around, expecting to see the little zaktan at her heels. "Or at least I did. I'm sure he's around here somewhere, probably checking out the rodents or something. And if not, I have my blaster here to keep anything dangerous at bay."

Din nodded his head, holding up his free hand one final time, before turning and boarding the Razor Crest, the hatch slowly shutting behind him. Heading for the cockpit, he sat the kid in his normal chair and slipped into this own seat, flipping switches as he readied for takeoff. He could see Ravana standing just at the edge of the tree line, watching from a safe distance as he lifted the ship off the ground and turned it skyward. And if Din let his eyes linger on the disappearing figure of the woman a little longer than necessary, well…there was only the kid there to notice, and he didn't know how to talk yet.

He did however know exactly how to make his displeasure known; the sounds emitting from the child quite evident that he already missed Ravana.

"This is how it has to be," he reminded his charge. "It's not safe for us to stay in one place too long and having us there wouldn't be safe for her either. It's best we leave."

And while his words might have sounded perfectly logical, Din found he shared a bit of the same sadness as his little green foundling.

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Thankfully, right after leaving the planet, the kid fell asleep in his chair, allowing Din a bit of peace and quiet. Normally it felt good to be in space, going from one place to another, not being tied down or having to worry about anyone but himself…and now the child. Still, for some reason, the Razor Crest felt empty, and somewhat cold – making him long for a certain cozy house with a soft bed surrounded by a thick curtain.

Shaking his head, he did his best to dispel such thoughts from his mind. He was being far too nostalgic for his own good, and these feelings would quickly fade, they always did. This is the way. He'd chosen this life when he'd sworn to the creed, and it was something he would never regret. In the meantime, he needed to make a plan for where he would start looking for the kid's home world. Thus, after setting a course that would take them out of this system, he sat back and studied the star-charts, and any history disc he had access to on the mysterious people known as Jedi.

Time seemed to move faster in space, without any light source to mark the passage of time, and before he knew it, the entire day was gone. The kid had slept a good deal of it, probably having worn himself out playing with Zax over the past few days. But even he woke up when his little tummy began to rumble, alerting Din to the need to feed his charge. He was grateful he'd thought to bring the bag of food Ravana had packed for them up to the cockpit, thus not requiring that he leave the controls in order to see to the child's needs. There would be no snacking for him, not with his helmet in place and the kid wide awake. But he pulled a few items out of the sack that was sure to keep the kid satisfied.

"Just don't leave crumbs all over the cockpit," Din warned him, handing over one of the sweet confections he'd found packaged within. The kid instantly had most of it in his mouth, devouring it as if he hadn't eaten in days. A second one followed soon after, and then a third, before it was decided he'd had enough. Unfortunately, that was not an opinion shared by the child, and soon his little green hands were reaching out for more. "Where do you put it all? For someone who eats his body weight nearly every day, I swear you haven't grown an inch…either taller or wider." Still, the kid wouldn't be placated, and soon a few more items from the sack made it's way into his little fingers, then quickly down his throat.

Din was just about to cut the greedy little Jawa off a second time when he heard something. At first, he thought it was just random engine noise, but when he heard it a second time, he knew it wasn't coming from the Razor Crest at all.

Rising from his chair he reached down and unholstered his blaster, prepared to go investigate. Yet, when the kid scrambled out of his seat and stood in the doorway of the cockpit, effectively blocking Din's way…he quickly got suspicious.

"Do you know what's making that noise?" he demanded, cocking his head to the side as he studied the nervous little alien in front of him. He hadn't expected a confession, but from the way the child was looking at him, he could see the guilt written all over his face. Bending down, he scooped him up and headed down the ladder. "Come on, let's go see what you've done."

Once down in the hold of the ship, Din could hear that the sound was coming from the kid's cubical. And the closer he got, the more certain he became of what it was. Giving the squirming child one last look, he pressed the button that opened the small hatch, letting out a long-suffering sigh at the sight before him. There, sitting on the kid's bed, it's ears straight up and its tongue sticking out in what he could only call a happy grin was exactly who he had expected.

"Zax," he muttered, his helmet drooping forward a bit as he shut his eyes and shook his head. Of course, nothing was simple where the kid was concerned. "How did you manage to sneak him up here and lock him in?" Din asked, turning to glare at the green foundling in his arms. Yet, how did the little womp-rat do anything he knew he wasn't supposed to? He either used his strange powers or was simply a sly little mynock with stealth that rivaled even Din's. "You know we have to take him back, right? Ravana will be worried sick and the last thing she deserves is for us to go stealing her pet. This was a bad thing. Very bad."

The kid didn't seem to care what Din was telling him and wiggled his way out of his arms and into his cubical, waddling up to the zaktan and throwing his stubby arms around its neck. It was tempting to simply allow him to keep the beast, but deep down, the Mandalorian knew it would be wrong. Ravana had done too much for the both of them to be treated like this.

"Say your farewells now, because he's going back!" Din stated firmly, purposely ignoring the big round pleading eyes looking up at him. "No! We're taking him home. End of discussion!" This wasn't how he'd planned things and returning to Pessue was not the safest thing for them to do. Still, there was no way he was taking on a second passenger, even if this one only defecated three times a year. "And if the mutt chooses to dump his load between now and when we reach Pessue, you'll be the one cleaning it up. You hear?" Then hitting the button, Din closed the hatch, shutting the kid and his stolen pet inside as he went to turn the ship around.

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For safety reasons, Din had plotted a roundabout course back to Pessue, figuring if anyone was following them, they stood a better chance of shaking them. They arrived back at the planet the following day, just before dusk. The sunset was a vibrant mixture of reds and yellows as the Razor Crest dropped out of the ionosphere and headed for the planet's surface. The kid had been despondent since they'd turned the ship around, but Din couldn't think of any way to see that all parties were happy. The mutt belonged to Ravana, and he definitely didn't want another thing he needed to feed and take care of. It wasn't fair, but it looked like the kid was the one who was going to take the hit on this one.

Yet, all thoughts of pets and fairness left his mind the moment he saw the black plume of smoke ascending out of the trees ahead…directly in the path of where Ravana's homestead lay. Din felt his heart freeze and his hands gripped the controls so tightly he was certain his knuckles had turned white. Suddenly visions of the smoke and destruction the battle droids had left behind when they attacked his home planet flashed across his mind. The echoing cries of his mother, the screams of the dying, and the phantom smell of the sulfur and fumes assaulted his senses.

"No…not again," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "Not Ravana."

Giving the Razor Crest a hard-right bank, Din brought the ship around and landed it in a small clearing, choosing not to get any closer to his ultimate destination. Something was very wrong, and the last thing he needed was to put the kid right in the middle of it.

As soon as the engines were powering down, Din leapt from his seat and hurried down the ladder, opening his store of weapons and pulling out several he felt he might need. He then took the Rising Phoenix and locked it in place on his back, before heading for the kid's cubical. Opening the door, he saw two sets of dark eyes staring back at him with worry and concern.

"Stay here," he ordered, pointing his finger at the two of them. "Do not leave the ship and don't do anything until I get back. Do you understand?" And while it was anyone's guess what the kid was thinking, Din actually felt like the zaktan did comprehend his instructions. Now if only they would both obey.

So, with a final nod, he shut the door and headed for the hatch, the hissing of the hydraulics that lowered the ramp sounding far louder than he would have liked when he had no idea what might be nearby. Once he was out, he locked the ship up tight, hitting a few commands on his vambrace that activated a pre-programed flight plan he'd set in place not too long ago. If he didn't return to the Razor Crest within two hours, or he punched in a certain code, the ship would take off and head for Navarro, getting the kid to the only two people he knew he could trust to protect him. It wasn't the best plan, but it was all Din could think of to keep the kid safe if he didn't make it back.

Activating the jetpack, he took to the sky, heading straight for the large billowing smoke in the distance.

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Devastation.

That was the only word for what Din saw as he hovered over the once pristine homestead. The house looked to have been hit multiple times by a laser cannon, the flammable parts still smoking where they'd been scorched by fire. The rest of the outbuildings were piles of rubble as well, along with any and all equipment Ravana had once used. Yet it was the dead bodies that littered the ground that told the story of what had taken place. There were two dressed in Stormtrooper uniforms, as well as three other men who appeared to be locals – all dead and lifeless, telling Din that it hadn't been a one-sided battle.

Ravana had fought back.

Descending from the air, Din touched down and instantly checked the bodies. The two Imps had been struck with blaster fire, leading Din to believe that Ravana had been the cause. Yet the other three men, one of whom he recognized as the scum Tannor, looked to have been cut in half. But by what, he had no idea. As a bounty hunter he'd seen a lot of weapons in his time, but nothing he knew of could slice a person in two without leaving a gaping wound or a pool of blood. These three had simply been cut in half, the wounds cauterized in some unknown way, leaving no mess…only death.

Knowing there was no help for any of them – even if he'd been so inclined to offer it - Din began to scout the area, unwilling to leave until he had found Ravana, or at least her body. She deserved a proper burial, if nothing else, especially since he knew that he and the kid had been the cause of all this. The fact that the men from the village had been there, he could only assume that Tannor had alerted the Imperials to his presence on the planet, thus leading Moff Gideon straight here, where Ravana had paid the ultimate price for her kindness. He was not looking forward to returning to the Razor Crest and the kid with such news.

Yet, just then, his eye caught something buried among some of the rubble near the back of where the house once stood. Leaping forward, he grabbed hold of a few pieces of debris and began to dig, his breath catching in his throat when he uncovered a sight that set his heart racing.

Ravana!

Getting down on his knees beside her, he hit a few buttons on his vambrace, his helmet switching to a mode where he could read for vital signs. He could see from the scan that she was severely injured, having several broken bones, and was unconscious…but she was alive! Her heart rate was slower than he'd have liked, the numbers that flashed across his visor showing that her condition was not very good. Switching back to normal view, he gently rolling her over, wincing at what he saw with his naked eye, and cataloging each wound as well as deciding what needed tending first.

Her left arm was at an odd angle, telling him it would need to be set back in place to heal, yet it was the angry blaster marks on her side and leg that looked to be the most pressing. She had deep gash on her cheek as well as what looked to be bruises on her neck – obviously done by the grip of a very strong hand. Din could feel his blood boil with rage as he thought of what Moff Gideon had done to her, more than likely in an attempt to extract information of their whereabouts from her.

"Ravana?" he called softly, hoping to pull her out of her unhealthy slumber. "Open your eyes."

It took a few moments, but eventually his plea was answered when her lashes did flutter open, blinking a few times as she attempted to focus on the person before her.

"M-m-mando?" she croaked, her voice hoarse and dry. When it finally clicked, her eyes grew wider with fear. "You…you have to leave! A man came looking for you…I didn't tell them anything…but you have to go. Protect the kid."

"I will, but not without you," Din told her firmly, reaching over and taking hold of a half-burned piece of cloth and ripping off a large strip.

"Leave me," she insisted, pushing at his chest with her good arm. "There's nothing to be done for me. Save yourself and the kid…please."

"I said I'm not leaving without you, and I meant it," he argued, the low growl in his voice clearly heard through the modulator in his helmet. "But first I need to bind up your arm. I have to warn you…this will hurt."

"Can't hurt…any more than it already…does," she moaned, shutting her eyes as she prepared for the worst.

"Don't count on it," Din replied, throwing her own words back at her that she had once said to him.

And though he tried to be as gentle as possible, wrapping her shattered arm in the sling elicited more than one cry of agony from the already hurt woman. Once it was done, he cleared away the rest of wreckage off of her and then carefully scooped her up in his arms, much the same way he had done only days before when they went flying.

"Ready for another trip through the air?" he asked, doing his best to sound positive and not let his worry over her condition show.

"Zax!" was Ravana's panicked reply. "I…I don't know where Zax is. I can't…leave him."

"Your zaktan is fine," Din assured her, glad he could do at least that much to alleviate the fear and pain in her voice. "He's on the Razor Crest waiting for you. Now, hold on and we'll get you fixed up in no time."

And without further discussion, he took to the air, doing his best not to jar her as he did. His jaw was tight with anger and his body hummed with rage over what that demagolka had done to her, wanting nothing more than to exact revenge in her name.

"It…it was Tannor," she said as they went, her words coming out raspy and broken due to her damaged throat. "That good for nothing…son of a Hutt! He's the one…who ratted you out. If I…ever see him again, I swear…I will…" Here she was forced to stop talking, the pain becoming too great to continue.

"You won't need to bother," Din informed her. "He's dead, along with his friends."

Here Ravana opened her eyes and looked up at the expressionless helmet before her.

"Y-y-you?" was her only question.

"I wish," Din growled, knowing if he'd found the men alive, he would have taken great pleasure killing them himself, yet it appeared that Moff Gideon had beat him to it. More than likely taking out his own anger on them for letting him and the kid slip away before he arrived. Served the traitorous letches right. Still, he didn't want Ravana to think him a murderer – though the jury was still out on that, depending on who you asked. "They were dead when I got here. Along with two Imperial troopers…was that you?"

"They shot…first," she stated in her defense.

"I don't doubt it," Din agreed, giving a slight smile beneath his helmet at the indignation in her tone.

"Mando…" came her next weak words. "I…I thank you…for coming back…but you shouldn't have…bothered. I don't think I'm going…to make it." She reached up and let her fingers touch the side of his helmet in a gesture of farewell. "Tell the kid…goodbye for me…" And then he felt her go limp in his arms, her hand falling to her side and hanging there.

"Ravana!" Din barked out as he gave her body a slight shake, unwilling to let her go like this. "You hold on, do you hear me? Hold on! We're almost there!" And while he could see the Razor Crest coming into view, he only hoped that what he had in mind actually worked.

It simply had to.

OH DEAR! This is a fine mess they've gotten themselves in.

How many of you saw the kid stealing the zaktan? Or Din 'having' to come back to return it?

Well, perhaps this wasn't the way you all thought they would end up remaining together...but here it is.

Now we just have to see if she makes it, now don't we. Tune in Monday!

Thanks

Guest Reviews:

multifandom: (For chapter 2) Awww, thanks! I'm glad you find it 'cute' but maybe down the road it might turn spicy and mysterous. ha ha. But we'll have to see. Thanks for the review.

Guest: Yes, I thought it was a very handy use for that carbonite freezer machine. Better than sticking people in it...in my opinion. The jet pack ride was probably just me fostering my own desires into the story. ha ha. Well, he DID get away...but he came back. Now we just have to wait and see if she lives! Thanks.