I was washing Carl's grungy shirt. Winda's mother- no, I still didn't know her name- grinned over at me. We were washing our clothes at the local stream; well, I was washing my clothes along with Carl's. I hadn't realized how dirty, smelly, or stained they were when I offered to do his laundry this morning. There had been some disturbances around the area and the two warriors in the village went to check it out. Meanwhile I was here trying to figure out just how many holes Carl's shirt had.

My finger slipped through one I found; I frowned and the mother beside me laughed. "Maybe I should just make him a new shirt," sighing I set it down on the grass in front of me. "That is very nice of you to do his laundry," she coaxed. "Please, I could smell him from the barn. Now if only I can get him to take a bath," I flashed her a playful grin and she nodded in agreement. Thank god Mando took better care of his personal hygiene. I then began to work on one of my shirts, not noticing the mother now looking at me.

"You seem very happy here." "I am," I replied without too much thought; I was attempting to get this grass stain out of my shirt. "You fit right in." "Thank you," more unthinking on my part. Stupid stain! A moment of silence passed before she continued. "Saoirse?" "Yes?" Another pause. "We want you to stay."

This did grad my full attention as my head spun to face her; she was smiling tenderly back at me. "The community is grateful to have Mando and Carl's protection." "I don't know if Carl would stay…." "But you and Mando could. He could take off his armour, pack it all away in case there's ever trouble. You and him could have a good life; you could make a home of your own here. Wouldn't that be nice?" She asked while we were staring at each other.

Me and Mando, stay here forever? Together? I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought of it, only…. I never considered staying here on Sorgan before. "You will return to Takodana someday." It just seemed like going back to Takodana was a done deal; I would go home in the hopefully near future. While I liked this place a lot, it wasn't really "home" to me. I don't think anywhere but the tranquil landscape of Takodana could be.

But then, what about Mando? Where did he come into all this? We're we going to stay together until I got back on Takodana? Or would this Din person come and take me away first? Perhaps Din what's-his-name was the one who would bring me home. The consequent of that is Mando's and my parting at some point. The very thought made my stomach churn a little. No… I had to remind myself. I can't get too attached; not to Mando, or Carl, or Winda- anyone. I'm going to leave them all eventually; Master's knowledge of the future was never wrong. Din last-name-here was coming for me; sooner or later we would meet. We'd meet and balance each other…. No, I can't start a life with Mando here or anywhere else. Not when I know it wouldn't be permanent.

"I…. appreciate the offer; I really do, but…." My eyes lowered softly as I addressed Winda's mother. Before I could say more, Mando and Carl returned from the forest; neither of them looked happy. I could tell by the way Mando was walking that he was upset. "Mando?" I stood up nervously along with Winda's mother. Everyone started gathering around the warriors; all of us wearing worried expressions.

"Bad news. You can't live here anymore," Mando addressed the crowd. This was unsurprisingly not well received. Even I was taken aback. "What?" "Why?" Some of the farmers asked. "I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but there are no other options," Carl implored them with his hands out at his sides. "You took the job," one local fired back. "Yeah," another concurred. "That was before we knew about the AT-ST," Carl rebuffed. "What is that?" A farmer asked. "The armoured walker with two enormous guns, that you knew about and didn't tell us." Insert even more upset rumbling here.

"Help us." "Help us, please!" "You're supposed to help us." "We hired you to help us. Please!" "Saoirse, do something." The sound of my name made me flinch. I think the others caught on quite quickly to where this was going as all their attention was on me now. "Yeah, Saoirse. Tell them to help us." "They'll listen to you." "Please, we need your help." That's when I rolled my head sideways to see Winda's mother staring at me with a pleading gaze. "We have nowhere to go," she said. Oh, boy; here we go.

With a deep breath in, my feet shifted round to face Mando and Carl; they were both already looking at me. "Guys, please- these people need your help," I pressed. "Saoirse….." Carl lifted up his hand to stop me, but I went on. "This is their home; there's nowhere else for them to go," my voice rose a bit. "Sure they do. This is a big planet. I mean, I've seen a lot smaller." "Carl, they must have family roots here going back generations. This land means something to them. Please, if there is anything you can do." Carl sighed, peered back at Mando then at me. "I understand, I do. But there are only two of us." That's when I knew it was time for a different tactic. Time to get some more information!

"This…. AT-ST….. It's a mech walker you said, yes?" "Yes," Mando spoke for the first time since he proclaimed the bad news. "So it's a machine, and it's on this planet?" "Basically, yeah," Carl nodded his head. An idea came to me. "Well, why don't you just blast it with the laser canons on the ship? Fly the ship above it and shoot it down."

There was a silence all around following this conception. Villagers looked at each other thoughtfully, as did Carl and Mando. The Mandalorian's head then moved downwards a sliver. "That…. could work." "Damn, why didn't I think of that?" "We just have to make sure the village is out of blast range," they discussed amongst themselves. I grinned a little, only to look down as something grabbed my hand. It was Winda's mother who was holding onto my hand while smiling candidly at me. "Thank you," she whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

I don't know why but, in that moment, something else came to mind. Something much, much more troubling. My eyes slowly returned to the conversing Mando and Carl. My lips parted a tad. "T-there's no….. living beings onboard that thing, right?"

Everyone suddenly got quiet again. All eyes shifted back to the now flustered and uncomfortable duo; Carl simply glanced at Mando, who faced me directly. "There are….." And I felt sick. My cheeks paled as any semblance of a grin disappeared from my face. Carl looked immediately alarmed. "Saoirse," he raised his hand up my way. "N-no….. No, you can't kill them. No." The villagers weren't too keen on this response, speaking up again. "What choice do we have?" One farmer asked. "It's either us or them." "And like you said, we have roots here; we don't want to move." Hearing their justifications only made me feel sicker. Sick…. This was sick. We're talking about people's lives here.

"Look, Saoirse; I get it. You're compassionate; you don't like people dying under any circumstances. But what choice do we have? Like that guy back there said, it's either them or the invaders. You can't have it both ways this time," Carl tried to pursue me. "No, there has to be another way. Can't you lure them off the ship and destroy the mech once everyone's off?" I wouldn't stop pushing. I couldn't- not when we have lives on the line. "And then what would they do? They might call for backup," Mando added his two-cents again. "I'm sorry; I am. But there's no other way. If you want us to help the village, we have to take them out. We'll do it far away so you don't even hear it," Carl tried to sound soothing now. I wasn't buying it, folding my arms angrily. I was pissed; more than a little pissed. Mad at them for the murder they were about to commit and mad at myself for even suggesting the idea. If I had known there were living beings onboard….

But I wasn't done fighting yet; oh no. Now I turned to Mando- my last hope. I stared over at him with long, sensitive eyes; my lips parting once more. "Mando, please…. don't do this. Find another way; I know you can. You don't have to kill anyone." "You think he wears that blaster on his waist as an accessory?" I think Carl immediately regretted what he just said judging by the monstrous glare I shot him. My eyes then drew back to the clearly conflicted Mando. "Please….. please. All life is valuable." "Who told you that?" One idiotic farmer had the gull to call out. "You wouldn't be saying that if you're life or home were in danger," another stupidly added. Oh, the way Mando's helmet dangerously spun towards him.

It was clear by now though- the tide of the town had turned against me. I went from begging for their village to be saved, to pleading for the lives of their enemies to be spared. I'm sure many of them saw me as an insufferable, sanctimonious saint; that wasn't my intention. I just didn't want people to die; doesn't matter if they're enemies or allies. As Master Obi-Wan once told me, all life is transient and therefore equal. It is possible to defeat your enemies without ending their lives….. Ok, I'm starting to see now why I wouldn't make a good Jedi or fighter in general.

Carl looked to Mando, who was twirling around to go back inside the barn. The mood was very, very dim at this point. "We're not leaving," Winda's mother finally announced when no one would say anything. "Mando?" Carl asked the Mandalorian. He hesitated for a minute and I held my breath. "We're going to destroy it," he eventually stated. "Mando!" My eyes widened and my heart dropped. I had never been so upset with anyone before; I just felt like I was going to burst out into tears. Mando's helmet turned my way one last time before he went inside. "I'm sorry, Saoirse, but I am a Mandalorian; we annihilate our enemies." When I utterly refused to say anything, instead electing to glare at him, he sighed. "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll never kill while you're watching."