"…Ah," She moaned, wincing.

"Are you okay?" Mando asked her.

"Not dead..my side," Andremary said with a pinched face. She reached out and gripped his arm that still held onto her shoulder, "Help me."

Mando nodded and just picked her up. He walked over to his vambrace and squatted to pick it up. He hurried to the camp in case the hounds had split up to attack both groups.

When they got to the light of the fire the group of four shaking people were huddled together. Clethity was the first to look up at Mando and Andremary.

"What happened? We heard blaster fire?" Clethity asked as Mando strode into the fire-lit camp. She stood and came over to her aunt being laid down. She gasped and covered her mouth with her fingertips. She saw the dark blood splattered on the Mandalorian and her aunt.

"Miss, I mean Andremary, used the restroom. And apparently, a couple of snarlers didn't like that. They attacked when I came to help her," Mando explained. He settled Andremary down and tossed his vambrace aside. He knelt by her wounded side and carefully unwrapped her bandage. The bandage was bloody but it wasn't alarmingly soaked. Once the gash was uncovered Mando sighed. The stitching had ripped but only half of them had broken. Mando fetched his med kit before he paused and gazed down at Andremary's cringing face.

"Last time you were unconscious but this time this will hurt. I have to disinfect it again and stitch it," Mando warned Andremary.

"Do you have painkillers?" She asked as she knew it would hurt like hell.

"No. I don't. But I have leather to bite," Mando pulled a strip of leather from his med kit that already had markings of people nearly biting through the thick strip.

"Alright," Andremary held her palm out for the leather and placed it in her mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut and tuned out any sound in preparation for the pain to come.

When the pain came it punched its way in. Her side felt like it was burning slowly and her insides were melting from the inside out. She bit the leather and screamed through her teeth. She felt someone's hand wrap around hers and she squeezed it.

Mando grimaced as he stitched carefully yet quickly after he put disinfectant and bacta spray on the opened half of the wound. Her hand on her wounded side grabbed the cloak under her and her other hand squashed her niece's hand. Mando finally finished and wrapped the wound back up.

After she let herself groan in agony once more she released the leather from her mouth. She let go of her niece's hand and it felt like she fell back into reality. Right onto the hard dirt.

"Miss?" Mando leaned over her and tried to listen to how Andremary's breathing sounded.

"Mando," she gasped. Her breathing was shallow but she was taking in air.

"It's gonna be alright. You're okay," Mando whispered over her.

"Thank you," Andremary said before her eyes shut into unconsciousness.

"Do you like my auntie?" Clethity asked after the silence settled. Her eyes were wide and she was staring at Mando with question.

"Excuse me?" Mando asked, thinking he misheard Andremary's little niece.

"Are you in love with my aunt?" Clethity asked after a moment's pause. She kept her gaze on his visor as Mando looked back at her. Clethity shifted in her seated position, waiting for an answer to her innocent question.

Mando cleared his throat and looked down at Miss's face. She was covered in sweat and her face and arms were still covered in hound blood.

Mando sighed, "Why don't you get a wet cloth to clean your aunt up for now?"

"Alright," Clethity sprung to her feet and scampered off to the small creek they found the day before with a rag in hand.

Mando sighed again and peered down at Miss. Why would Clethity think he loved her? Was it because he was taking care of Andremary? Mando slumped forward and set his helmet in his hands. She had teasing humor that made him laugh a few times. She fought and killed a Corellian hound all by herself as a blind, small woman for heaven's sake.

Mando furrowed his brows as he looked back up. Clethity returned with a wet rag and she started rubbing off the dried blood from her aunt's arm. Clethity finished on her side and held the rag out to Mando, who had been quietly watching. He was confused for a moment at Clethity's action but nodded as he took the cloth. He picked Andremary's hand up with one hand and rubbed the grime and blood away gently with the other.

"I'm going back to sleep. You still have a night shift," Clethity smiled tiredly. It was similar to Miss's bright smile but it wasn't the same. Mando nodded in response as he continued up Miss's arm with the rag.

Mando finished her arm and went to wash the cloth out. He squatted down at the creek and rubbed the cloth free of dirt and blood. He was grateful the blood that floated downstream wasn't Miss's blood. With a sigh, Mando headed back to the camp. The three depressed prisoners were back asleep near the fire that was kept up by them. Clethity was dozing in her spot where her back was pressed against a fallen log near the fire. Mando snuck past the group to his little patient on a cloak.

"Mando," Miss was awake again.

"Hey, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Mando asked. He knelt at Andremary's side and forgot about the wet clothe in his hands as he looked into Miss's blank blue eyes.

"Did I pass out?" Miss asked. She scrunched her face as she shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, but the roughest part is over. Now, you just heal," Mando took her hand in his and squeezed it comfortingly. Maybe he was doing more than just taking care of Clethity's aunt?

His hand was faintly held back. Mando gently smiled as she tried to be strong in her weakest state. He pressed the clothe to her sweating forehead and talked about the stars above. He told her of the planets he'd been to recently and what the stars looked like when he was drifting among them. He told her what they looked like as the hours passed and of the constellations that were visible.

"Mando," Andremary coughed after he paused in his mumblings to her.

"Yes?" Mando turned to her from gazing up at the stars.

"Thank you. Thank you for being my eyes to the stars. That means-," Andremary paused and sucked in a slow breath, "-it means a lot."

"You're tired," Mando said after a pause. He dabbed a little more at her face. She smiled before she nodded and closed her eyes. Mando sighed when the beautiful blue of her eyes disappeared some sight. Mando wiped the last grime away that he could see on her nose.

Mando set the rag down and sagged into his hands. His eyes kept closing involuntarily and he had to pry them open. He had to keep watch for any signs of another fever coming to Andremary or if there might be more hounds hunting in the forest for human flesh. He numbly shoved his thumb and little finger back into place before picking his knife up from the dirt.

Mando rummaged through his things organized between two stumps. He had to take his things out of his rucksack in order to find what he needed more easily. The food was disappearing quickly and it made Mando a little nervous about how fast his supplies were dwindling. Maybe he could go to the bloody scene and get meat for them. They couldn't travel down the steep trail with Andremary injured so badly. Either Mando had to find a village or they would scavenge for food until they were able to travel.

He sat back down at Miss's side with his sharpening stone from his rucksack and his dull knife. He glided the knife smoothly on the stone until it would cut through leather like bantha butter. To test it, he took off one of his gloves and easily shaved off some of the dark hair growing on the side of the back of his hand. Before he put his glove back on he pressed his hand to Andremary's forehead and cheek. It was still a normal body temperature, which made Mando sigh in relief.

After an hour of sitting in the dark, Mando's feet became numb under his knees. He stood and walked around to get the blood flowing to his feet. As he paced he noticed that his holster wasn't as heavy and it didn't bump against his hip as hard when he took a step. He looked down, and sure enough, his blaster wasn't holstered. He furrowed his brows, trying to remember where he had put his blaster pistol. He clicked his tongue in realization when he remembered that he had dropped it at the hound attack. He also remembered he had a vambrace to repair.

He quickly fetched his blaster before sitting back down and picking up his burgundy armor piece. It wasn't badly destroyed but a few electronics were loose. The fuel for his flame thrower had all leaked out. That was disappointing, to say the least. He sighed and started to repair it. He always had his tiny welder on him, which he sometimes used as a cauterizing tool. Quite redneck of him but he could bare the pain.

He needed more light and the fire was dying. He crawled over to the small pile of wood that had been collected and tossed the biggest pieces onto the fire's coals. His eyes burned from the light blaring into his visor. He groaned as his sleep-deprived mind made him go back to fixing his vambrace. His back ached as he bent over his project. He couldn't sit cross-legged anymore so he lay down on his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows. Mando's eyes drooped and blinked slowly. He needed to stay awake.

Mando carefully stood and slugged over to the creek. It must be early morning because the forest wasn't pitch black anymore. Mando squatted by the creek and slid his helmet off, not bothering to look to see if he was alone. He bent down on his hands and knees and stuck his face into the fresh snow water. It stung his cheeks and cooled his burning eyes. He waited there a few moments before pulling out of the water and gasping for a breath.

After three more hours of cursed waking, Mando saw the first light stream through the tops of the trees. The stars had disappeared an hour ago, which somehow made Mando feel lonely. He kept moving by collecting wood and refueling the fire.

One of the female prisoners woke first. She sat up and stared into the fire. They all had been doing that constantly. Mando stood and offered her a ration pack he had boiled. She took it without a word or looking up. Her eyes were dull and hopeless. Mando was disturbed, to say the least. He plopped back down next to Andremary and took out his gun. He dragged his hand to the clothe and picked it up. His body was exhausted but he needed his blaster cleaned. He routinely cleaned his blaster. The muscle memory was relaxing and it felt right. Mando flipped his pistol around in his hand, checking it over thoroughly before holstering it.

"Mando," Clethity whispered. She had awoken and went off to use the restroom but she was back. She slowly knelt on the opposite side of Andremary that Mando was on.

"Yes?" Mando asked, looking up at her with drooping eyes.

"Did you think about my question? Do you?" Clethity continued.

"What?" Mando was confused. His tired mind couldn't figure out what she was talking about.

"Do you love my auntie?" Clethity specified.

Mando sighed as it made a little more sense, "She's brave and kind, but I'm a bounty hunter, Clethity. I was hired by your aunt to find you. We found you, so when we get back to the city, I'm leaving."

"Oh, I see," Clethity said as she looked down, "Auntie Andremary said I would get an uncle someday to take care of us and get us outta poverty. She said he would be strong and good."

Mando shook his head. He wasn't that guy for them. He would never have a life like that. A beautiful woman at his side and a little girl…or more.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a bounty hunter," Mando said, "Your aunt will get that man someday, Clethity. Don't worry."

"Alright," she whispered.

Mando furrowed his brows in thought. They were in poverty and yet Andremary was offering three hundred and fifty credits to him to find her niece. He dismissed the contradictory ideas and closed his eyes for a moment.

Hello all! I hope you are enjoying my little fanfiction.

If you are, please let me know. If you have any suggestions please message me about that as well. I'd love to hear from my viewers.

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