[Author's Note: I want to apologize to all Cara Dune fans among my lovely readers. She will not be making an appearance in this story. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against Cara Dune! But this is a love story- albeit a slow-burning one- and I want to introduce my favourite romance trope. I adore writing and reading love triangles (only if they are done in a very specific way, mind you).
A love triangle will be introduced in this chapter. For this to happen, I am going to change Cara Dune's character to a male version: Carl Dune (cheesy, I know). Don't worry; Saoirse will be completely faithful to Mando, no CarlxOC whatsoever. But I do like love stories where the desired party is entirely loyal to love-interest-one, while also being unsuccessfully pursued by love-interest-two. Plus I like the idea of Mando getting jealous.
I want to thank all my lovely readers again for your support and kind comments; readers like you make me want to continue writing. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the story!]
I tossed a ball up and down in the air bored. I was laying on my cot while Mando drove the ship. He had yet to tell me where we were going. Time to ask some questions! I threw the ball up once more and I rolled onto my side so to face the back of his chair and window.
"Where are we going?" "Somewhere we can lay low," the Mandalorian responded, not looking back at me. "Why don't we go back to Takodana? You could bring me home," I suggested, my great uncle's words lingering in the back of my head. "It's not safe. Too many know you're from there. We'll have to find somewhere else." Sighing, I rested my head back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Man, flying through space was simultaneously enchanting and mind-numbingly boring. It's not like my protector was the talkative type either. To be honest, I didn't expect Mando to stay with me like this; I thought he would drop me off somewhere and get on with his life. But I was grateful he was sticking with me, especially without me having to ask. I don't know how long we'd be together like this, but I was glad we were.
Meanwhile, while I was doing utterly nothing, Mando was analysing his computer screen. "Let's see: Sorgan. Looks like there's no star port, no industrial centres, no population density. Real backwater skugle, which means it's perfect for us." Does it? I blinked at him ponderingly. His head turned around to face mine. "Ready to lay low and stretch your legs for a couple of mouths?" Whoa, months? Who said anything about "months"? I sat up on my cot, looking at Mando with unfirmness. "Don't I get a say where we go?" "No," he turned back to his switchboard, causing me to stifle yet another smile. Oh boy. He does know I'm a grown woman, right? But then, something tells me he doesn't have a lot of experience with women in general; or maybe women like me. You know, soft, calm, gentle, doesn't shoot things- that kind of lady. He pressed a few more buttons and grabbed hold of the steering wheel. "Nobody's going to find us here," he announced quietly before flying us down.
We landed not too long after. I knew Mando had something in mind when he guided me to his chair; he hasn't let me sit there thus far, not that I ever wanted to. It was merely the fact that he was guiding me along that caught my attention, though I waited for him to speak first. "Now listen; I'm going to go out there and I'm going to look around. Shouldn't take too long." "Ok," my head cocked to the side slightly. "Now, don't touch anything." Oh boy, how old did he think I was? Five? "I'll find us some lodging, and I'll come back for you." Apparently so. My eyes rolled so hard inwardly when his finger began waving at me.
"You stay right here; you stay, don't move. Understand?" Oh my god. "Mando, I'm not a child. You don't have to worry; I'm not going to wander off. I'll wait here for you," I grinned. His finger wagged a bit more as he digested what I just said. "Great." And with that, the Mandalorian left me alone on the ship, shutting the electric door behind him. Once he was gone, I sighed for like the millionth time and let myself fall back into the chair. "Why does safety always have to be tied with boredom?" Even though he told me not to touch anything, my hand lightly played with the joystick.
"Saoirse." I practically jumped out of my chair. Now that's a beloved voice I hadn't heard in a while. "Master!" I spun around gasping. My great uncle's spirit smiled warmly at me; his hands folded out in front of him. My own hand rose up to my chest. "Am I glad to see you! I have so, so many questions!" "I know you have, but there is not much time. I must be brief," he came over to me, placing his hand over top my shoulder. "M-master, what's going on? Who are these Imperials? Why do they want me so badly?" What started as one question turned into a ramble. His grinned widened- as wide as his grin could get mind you- and he gave my shoulder a squeeze.
"All will be well, if you trust the Force, my child." "B-but that doctor…. He said something about midi-chlorian and how I had a lot in my cells. Why does that matter? W-what's going on?" "I have told you before, Saoirse. Your body has the second highest count of midi-chlorian in history; I have only known one to have more than you." My eyes drifted off into nowhere rememberingly. "Anakin…..?" That made Master's grin fade for some reason. He watched me for a moment before saying anything else.
"Never forever, child; I am always with you. In the meantime, I want you to be mindful; sense the Force and act according to its will." "Well how do I figure out what the will is?" "When you quiet your mind, you will hear them speaking to you." But I never hear anything. Ugh! Why can't the Force try and talk to me a little louder? Sensing my mounting frustration, Master Obi-Gon Jinn's grin returned; he patted the side of my arm affectionately. Our eyes met again.
"Follow the will of the Force. It will not lead you astray." "Yes, Master," my eyes lowered. But I still had so many questions. My mouth opened as I drew in a deep breath. "I just… Can you at least tell me what these Imperials want with me? Can I give it to them, so they'll leave me alone?" He chuckled, giving his head a shake. "I am with you, child. Always remember that I am with you- all of us." "Master, I….."
Something went bump suddenly making my head glance to the side. I leaned back towards the door to see if anything had fell. When I looked back seconds later, my great uncle was gone. "Master? Master!" I frantically rushed to the front of the room, only to find it completely barren. "Great, he's gone…." I tossed my hands up in the air. My feet began to pace aimlessly around the floor. "Fantastic. I have one man telling me to stay put, and another man telling me to "follow" the Force wherever it leads me. Ugh, why are men always bossing me around? "Do this; do that." No one ever asks me what I want! Oh no; they just tell me- cryptically- what to do, then take off. Meanwhile I'm left here with no idea what I'm doing," I finally collapsed back into the chair, resting my forehead in my hands agonizingly. "I have no idea what I'm doing….."
It was around this time that I heard the front door open up. My first thought was that it was Mando returning; that wasn't long! But when there was no "I'm back" or any announcement, I grew suspicious. Cautiously, I got up from the chair and stepped close enough that I could see the opening. The door was certainly open but there was no one there- no one I could see anyway. "Mando?" I took another step forward. No reply. How'd this door even get open? I turned to see that the button to open it- or at least the button I think opened it- wasn't on. That's weird; the button hasn't been pressed yet the door's opened up. It's like it opened on its own…. "I want you to be mindful; sense the Force and act according to its will." Wait.
Seconds later footsteps could be heard approaching the now open door. I stumbled back a few steps myself, alarmed by this. Ok, so perhaps the Force opened the door. Why? And more importantly, who's intruding on our ship? I don't think it's Mando; he would make his presence known. Whoever it was, they sounded reserved and careful with their steps. My feet shuffled back far enough that I didn't see them first come onboard, though I did hear them.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the infamous Mando? What brings you to this god-forsaken place?" Mando? Oh! It must be someone who recognizes this to be Mando's ship. I didn't reply, silently hoping he'd just go away once he realized the Mandalorian wasn't here. "Your ship break down or something?" Of course, the universe likes to be ironic with me and he didn't. Instead he came fully onboard, stomping up the control room. He seemed just as surprised to find me there as I was to see him.
His arms folded as he scanned me once over. "Well I'll be. I didn't know Mando had a wife." "Uh, we're not… Hey, wait. Who are you? W-what are you doing on our ship?!" This man- he looked… well, battle-hardened is the best way to put it. Grizzled but muscular. His face had a bit of stubble on it and his hair was long on one side. He had this weird tattoo on one arm. After onceing me over- again- he cracked a grin before having a look around the area.
"Mando here?" Should I tell him the truth? What if I lie? But then, what if I'm honest? What if he's one of those people with those trackers- the ones meant for hunting me? Well, I figured that he'd learn soon enough that Mando wasn't here, so I decided to go the truthful route for now. "He's gone out," I stated flatly, not taking my worried eyes off of him. Yeah, thanks Force; this is just what I need right now. More things to worry about.
The intruder gazed back at me. "Who are you?" "I asked you first. Who are you? Why are you looking for Mando?" "Don't see how that's any of your business, little girl." I frowned, clearly upset by this lack of respect. "If you're looking for Mando, he's not here. I suggest you leave until he returns." "When will that be?" "I….. I don't know. He just left a little while ago." "Why didn't you go with him?" "B-because! Because he told me to stay. He…. he wanted to check this place out first." This man chuckled, only fanning my annoyance. "That was sure nice of him, wasn't it?"
This man started to explore casually, pausing every now and again to examine something. I watched him, utterly unimpressed. "So you're just going to stay here and wait for him?" "Got nothing better to do. Let's kill some time; tell me more about you." "I beg your pardon?" My frowned widened. "Heh, a beautiful woman on Mando's ship? I don't know if you know this, but he's a bit of a loner. Where'd he even find you?" "We met on my home planet," I didn't bother holding back any venom. He glanced my way. "Oh yeah? Where're you from?" Ha! I don't see why I should tell you. Instead of answering, I kept my mouth shut and his eyes narrowed curiously onto me from where he was standing.
"So it's going to be like that, is it?" "You should probably just leave. Mando won't like you being on his ship without his permission. You gotta trust me on this." "Oh, he won't, will he?" Chuckling, the intruder stepped my way, making my eyes grow in alarm somewhat. He was getting too close for comfort for my liking. But his smile wasn't one of malice; more general interest. "What's your name?" "Saoirse." "Saoirse? That's a nice name." "T-thank you…"
That's when it hit me like a lightening bolt. Gees, I can't believe it took me this long to remember it. "You will be taken from here. Do not leave until then; he will find you." Of course! He could be…. He might be…. "A-are you…. Is your first name Din?" I know I didn't ask Mando this outright when he first abducted me, but I wanted to be sure that this man- if he took me- was in fact the right guy. I still had no proof that Din what's-his-name was the Mandalorian, after all.
The intruder blinked at me in confusion, then glanced away down at the switchboard. His fingers fiddled with the pink flower still resting on it. "No, I'm no Din. For your purposes, my name is Carl- Carl Dune." Carl Dune…. So not Din, then? Man! When am I ever going to meet this Din character? How many men am I going to meet before him? Still, I'd be lying if a part of me wasn't relieved. I wasn't ready to leave Mando just yet. Now I know he could leave me at any time- that was the reality. But I was glad this Carl Dune wasn't Din last-name-here…. It meant Mando and I had some time still together.
Analysing my facial reaction, Carl chuckled to himself yet again. He took another step towards me, leaving the flower intact on the dashboard. "Are you looking for this "Din"?" He asked me. "Not exactly…." He's supposed to be looking for me…. I think. "You sure are an interesting one. Where did Mando find you again?" Before I could tell him that it's not of business, a welcomed familiar voice cut viciously through the air. "Get away from her!"
Within the blink of an eye, the Mandalorian was back and boy, he did not look happy. Neither did Carl Dune for that matter actually. Upon first seeing each other, without any hellos or greetings, they began to engage in a fist fight. This obviously upset and stunned me. They were pushing each other, kicking the other in the gut, and punching all around. It honestly sounded kinda painful. My protective instincts kicked again as I refused to let my friend get pulverised by this interloper. I say that, but I didn't want Carl to get hurt either. The perfect ending was no one getting injured, and that's what I intended to achieve.
"Stop! Stop it! Stop fighting! He didn't hurt me! He's not here to hurt me! Stop punching each other!" Now who has to act like they're dealing with a bunch of children? As you can probably guess, they didn't stop, causing me to do the biggest eyeroll in history. This was senseless violence; I don't care if they're men and warriors. They kept sounding like they were genuinely hurting one another. "For the love of god, stop! This is pointless! You both lose, or win- whatever you want to call it. It's a tie!" Both hands flew exasperatedly up into the air. But nope- the brawling continued until they were both on the floor.
After rolling around several times, things finally got too serious when they yanked out their guns at the same time; they were pointing them at each other's head. Ok, this has gone too far. They shouldn't just kill each other like that! What senseless nonsense was this?! Both heads turned to face me as I got on my knees and reached my hands out to cover the front end of both blasters. Oh, now they're stopping?! Short of blowing each other's brains out. My face had an expression that read "I'm a hundred and ten percent done with your nonsense" on it. "Stop; just stop."
The Mandalorian then looked back at Carl, who gazed back at him. "How'd you get onboard?" Mando demanded. "The door was open," Carl stated matter-of-factly. "Why'd you open the door?" Mando then turned to face me. "I didn't," I exclaimed. "Heh, you left her here alone with a broken door? That's some grade-A protecting there, Mando." "The door isn't broken," Mando retorted threateningly. "Clearly, cause if she didn't open it…."
My stomach thought that now was the perfect time to embarrass me, growling quite loudly all of a sudden. Both heads were looking my way again and my cheeks sizzled red; my hands retracted from their line of fire to wrap around my waist in a desperate attempt to make my belly quiet. Well what did I expect? I hadn't eaten all day. Mando was still getting used to this whole feeding me on a regular basis. He must have known that's the issue as he peered back at Carl. "Want to go get some soup?"