"But what is the Force, Master?" "It is just as I've said, my child. The Force is energy; the Force is life. You must feel the Force around you, around me; binding us together," Master Yoda explained to me for what felt like the hundredth time. I sighed, skipping a rock across a pond; the same pond I dropped the flowers into four years ago.
No matter how many times Yoda or any of the Jedi tried to explain the Force to me, I could never understand it. Master Yoda told me I have to believe, but I don't know how to believe in something I don't understand. I was so confused; I was always confused. They told me its between everything but that doesn't make sense to me. How can I learn to use and control something so incomprehensible? I threw another stone and Yoda looked unamused.
"You must do, child." "I try, Master, but…." "No. There is no try; only do and do not. You do not use the Force to your true potential yet," his finger raised up at me. I gazed over to him defeated. "But I don't know what to "do". Why is this so hard for me? Please help me, Master," my eyes had a begging tint in them. His head gave a small shake. "You must help yourself; sense the Force and let it guide you. I cannot do this for you, nor can I tell you how to do it. But you must do it- do as the Force guides you."
My thumbs twittled together as I thought for a moment. "Would it be easier if I became a Jedi?" "The path of the Jedi is not for you. While Obi-Wan has taught you to value all life, as you must, you lack essential traits a Jedi requires, and have those they must forgo." "What traits?" I blinked curiously. "You lack fear- it is true- and fear is a path to the dark side. But you have a great compacity for love." "Don't Jedi love?" "Not the way I foresee for you. This is a different kind of love; a singular kind." "I love great uncle, Master Obi-Wan, and you." His head nodded a tad. "But this is different. This kind of love is against the Jedi code, for Jedi cannot marry. It is this kind of love- of self-sacrifice- that will make you a good healer."
The sensation of being covered by something woke me up. My eyes gently opened to find myself staring up at a ceiling. I felt something soft and warm cover my body; and I do mean my whole body. It didn't hit me immediately that I was naked and the thing concealing me was a familiar dark blue cloak. Whoever draped that over me wrapped me up in it like a swaddle. The room was noisy and had this panicked tension.
"Please, please, please." I know that voice; that's Dr. Pershing's voice. He sounded frantic and scared for some reason, and not anywhere near me. Without any forewarning my body was suddenly lifted up by two strong, armoured arms. It's only then that I saw who my champion was. My eyes stared up to see Mando. Mando! Oh my god! And here I thought I'd never see him again. I don't know how long it had been since that slimy doctor knocked me out, but it was obviously long enough for the Mandalorian to come back, break in, and find me….. somehow.
My first reaction was to say hi or something like that. But one, my throat was super dry- almost painfully so- and two, I think Mando wanted me to be quiet. He didn't set me down on my feet right away; instead he shifted me so to hold me in one arm, freeing his other hand for his blaster. We went uneventfully threw a few hallways, then once we were in a bigger room, Mando finally set me down. My feet stumbled a bit, the effects of the drug still wearing off. The Mandalorian made sure I was steady before turning to the now opening door. Two guys in the white suits from earlier entered and they instantly started shooting at each other. Mando gently yet rapidly shoved me behind a corner to block me from any fire.
Shooting turned to punching and kicking really fast. Another white guy raced in. "Where is she?!" He demanded like he wasn't aware of the Mandalorian's arrival yet. Too bad for him. Since I was now between new white guy and Mando, Mando didn't hesitate to grab hold of my wrist. I didn't have time to blink before I was yanked right into him, pressing up against his armour. Mando's arm snaked around my waist while the other hand um… well put bluntly, roasted that guy alive. I had to shut my eyes and turn my head away. His screams sounded unearthly.
"Hurry!" Another guy got too close to us- close enough for Mando to electrocute him. I wanted to my saviour to stop killing so much but alas, here we are. Once the room was clear- save us- Mando retracted his arm from me, took hold of my hand, and led me cautiously out through the back door. It was about now I became conscious of going out into public in nothing but a robe wrapped around me like a blanket. What that sleezy doctor removed all my clothes for is beyond me. Maybe easier to track my Force-sensitivity. Who knows?
It didn't take long for us to run into yet another one of those white men; of course he had to be shooting at us right away. Completely blocking me, Mando shot him back. Once he was down, the Mandalorian kept guiding me along the way by the hand. Every room we entered, he took his time to cautiously scan around first. Eventually we reached this really big, kind of empty, dark room which was rather silent inside. We only had to take a few steps in however, for things to get bad fast.
One door opened and two white guys entered- guns pointing at us. "Freeze! Don't move!" One barked. Mando made sure to stand in front of me, but that didn't do any good to the other two men now coming in from behind. We were efficiently surrounded. "Hands up! Drop the blaster!" I think the wheels in Mando's head started to turn; I could tell by the way he wrapped his arm around me again while not taking his eyes off the freaks.
"Wait. What I'm holding is very valuable," the Mandalorian told them. "You! Get over here now!" The first guy- I'm guessing the leader of the gang- ordered at me. I didn't do anything except press up against Mando's armour. Man, it's like hugging a rock. "Here," still holding onto me, Mando lowered to put his weapon down onto the ground. In the process, I noticed the thing on his wrist make a noise. My eyes peered up at Mando's helmet. What is he….?
"Now turn and face me. Stand up." Before we even had the chance, something- a lot of things actually- flew off Mando's wrist thingy. Whatever they were, they took good care of the four men very, very quickly. With a quick look around, Mando's hand reached for mine, he picked up his blaster, and out we went.
Finally, finally we made it outside. It was dark out and we appeared to be the only ones in the vicinity. That didn't last too long though, once we reached the main street. Despite being completely stark-naked underneath this cloak, it gave a surprising amount of coverage. It looked like a long, blue gown if I held it right.
Now, I knew we were being trailed at some point. Mando already knew by the way his hand kept touching his blaster. When men came out into the open ahead of us was the time his feet came to a stop. Within quiet seconds we were circled once more; there were tons of those red blinking trackers around. Uh oh, wait a minute….
"Welcome back, Mando," I knew I'd heard that voice from somewhere but couldn't put my finger on it right away. It was only once he came into view that I realized it was the same guy from the hologram back on Mando's ship; the one talking about the bounty, aka me. He put his fist on his side and was definitely not smiling. "Now give her to me," hologram guy demanded.
The Mandalorian's hand caressed his gun again. "Step aside. I'm going to my ship." It was around this point that some of the cruder men encompassing us started to jeer, whispering not so discreetly to each other. "She's gorgeous…" "She's…. naked." "Hey, hot stuff! What're you hiding under there?" "Honey, why don't you give that cloak to me?" "Yeah, heh. Gotta make sure the cargo's intact before we deliver it," one playfully shoved another in the rips. Hologram guy rolled his eyes unimpressed and gave his head a little shake. "Enough!" He then glared back at Mando severely.
"You give the bounty to me, and perhaps I'll let you pass." "She's coming with me," Mando said with definiteness. Mando…. I blinked up to him astonished for some reason. I mean, he did just risk his life to save me. Granted, he's the one who handed me over in the first place, but he came back…. He came back for me. "You balance each other. Remember that when you find reason to distrust him." A reason to distrust him… Mando hand-delivered me to them, and then he risked life and limb to take me back. My eyes lowered onto his helmet. I think I understand for the first time what Master meant when he told me all that.
Too bad hologram guy wasn't going to let Mando escape with me that easily. Seeing as the Mandalorian had a soft spot for me, he decided to play on that. Hologram guy pointed at me and spoke in a softer tone now. "If you truly care about the girl, then you'll hand her to me. And we'll discuss terms." "How do I know I can trust you?" Mando asked this but I already knew he had no intention of giving me back; not after what he risked to come fetch me. Hologram guy's eyes sharpened. "Because I'm you're only hope."
Mando's head spun to face me; his gaze lingered on me for a brief moment. Though he said nothing, I knew he was considering all his options and quickly weeding them out. Guns raised in our direction; tensions heightened. But soon enough Mando shot one of the creeps surrounding us. With his arm coiled around me yet again, he threw both of us behind some metal boxes. Blasters shot, people yelled- the classic battle scene ensued. He pushed my head down so he could confidently shoot with both hands.
"Drive! Drive!" I hadn't realized that we landed on a frater, but we were moving soon enough; getting shot at the whole way of course. The robot driving the cart got its head blown off by hologram guy. That's when the Mandalorian pulled out his disintegrator. One by one, people turned to dust and soon began to run. Pretty soon those remaining were hiding, but still nearby. "That's one impressive weapon," hologram man called from behind a pillar.
"Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to walk to my ship with the girl, and you're gonna let it happen," Mando announced. Course hologram guy wasn't satisfied with that. "No. How about this? We take the girl, and if you try to stop us, we kill you. And we strip your body for parts." "Mando," I reached out to touch his arm afraid. No, he's not gonna die; they're not going to kill him on my account. If only one of us can get out of this alive, it's going to be him. I'm a healer, a peacekeeper; I keep people alive. And I want to keep Mando alive more than anyone at the moment.
"Y-you'll let him go?" I asked in a much louder voice this time. Mando seemed horrified by this but I stuck to my resolve. Some of the jerks began jeering again in mocking tones. "Awe, you hear that?" "That's so precious." "She cares about the Mandalorian." "Why? Who'd care about someone like him?" "Oh who cares why? If it'll get us her, that's all we need." "Yes, sweetheart. We'll let the Mandalorian go if you come out." "Yeah, and leave the cloak behind, why don't 'cha?" Laugher filled the air.
All the while, I hadn't noticed one of them sneak around from behind. The creep took hold of my bare leg, causing me to shriek really loudly. "Don't touch her!" Mando kicked him square in the face. He got disintegrated in the blink of an eye and guns started blasting all over again. This time Mando tried burning them alive, which seemed to work for a moment. And when that was out of juice, Mando gave a frustrated huff. They kept shooting at us and Mando laid down low beside me. Our eyes met- well at least I think they did. We looked at each other and I grinned. I don't know why I grinned. Maybe I thought the situation was pointless and we were going to die anyway. Maybe I was beyond grateful that he came back for me. Maybe I wanted his last moments alive to be positive ones. For whatever reason, an organic smile blossomed across my face; not a big one but wide enough. My lips then parted a sliver; my eyes lowered gently.
That's literally when a miracle occurred. Hugh blasts lit up the night sky from high above; men immediately started fleeing and yelling. Individuals wearing the same helmet as Mando appeared from out the sky using jet packs. They didn't wait to engage in combat once they arrived. Mando merely watched in awe for a minute, then he spotted hologram man and raised his gun. Thankfully hologram guy made a run for it, so he didn't die right in front of me. One of the bigger Mandalorians- I think that's what they are- landed right near us, protecting us with ample shots and a really big gun.
"Get outta here. We'll hold 'em off," he said to Mando. "You'll have to relocate the covert." "This is the way," they looked at each other. "This is the way," Mando reiterated with a head nod. What way now? What are they talking about? After giving one another a mutual nod, Mando collected me in both arms; he held me princess-style. Once he had me securely in his grasp, he ran towards the pillars exiting main street. The ship wasn't that far from the entrance to the place. The Mandalorian got us safely on board, but we weren't out of the woods yet. Before he even had the chance to set me down, someone jumped down onto the bottom deck. Of course it had to be hologram guy.
"Hold it, Mando." Even with all the armour he had on, I could feel Mando's body clench as he slowly spun around to see hologram guy aiming a blaster at us. Or I should say Mando; I was put down super-fast and dragged behind him so he could block any shots to me. "I didn't want it to come to this, but then you broke the code. I get it; you care for the girl. She obviously cares about you too. Just hand her over and I promise, nothing will happen to her." "They wanted to kill her," Mando retorted angrily. "But they won't. I won't let them. Now, don't make me shoot you. I'm taking her one way or another."
That was not a wise thing to say. Mando shot this wire thingy out at a nearby button which proceeded a lot of stem. Hologram guy fired rather aimlessly until his blaster was out of bullets. Then Mando shot him, or at least off the ship; I don't think he actually killed him. Once he was off, the door slammed shut and the ship went into drive. I watched as Mando flew us away from that god-forsaken place as fast as he could.
Once we were a considerable distance, one of the Mandalorians- the one who initially helped us escape- zoomed up using his jetpack. He saluted Mando before descending back down. My Mandalorian seemed pleased with this, leaning his head back a tad. "I got to get one of those." "Awe, that would be fun," I agreed. "You're not using it. It's for Mandalorians," Mando told me; he said this, but I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was relieved. I watched him for a second, then grinned. "No fun." He didn't reply. When he didn't, I smiled over at him.
"So was it worth it? The bounty you got for me?" Silence. "And yet, you came back. Why?" More silence; Mando wasn't even looking at me now. This made me chuckle softly to myself; my eyes peered forward to my hands. "Why'd you come back after all the trouble you went through just getting me there? Never mind feeding me and making sure I didn't die….. Why did you? We barely even know each other." A pregnant pause ensued "No more questions," was his candid reply. I couldn't stop myself from smiling again- so like him to say that.
"Well, for whatever reason you came back, thank you. That guy was horrible; Dr. What-His-Name….. Staying there would have been definitely not ended well for me; I could tell that much….." I stole a peak at his helmet-clad head. I saw him and grinned to myself. "Thank you….. thank you." Obviously there was no reply, which I didn't mind. I simply gazed back forward out at the switchboard I was currently leaning on. That's when I saw it; the pink flower Kuiil had bought me back at the castle. It was resting on the dashboard peacefully. Huh, I pondered while staring at it. That's not where I left it. Wonder what it's doing up here? Curious; very curious indeed.