Author's Note

Yay, another chapter! I'm actually several chapters ahead in writing this fic. I was struggling for a while there with continuity. I want to make sure that when I post chapters, I keep things in chronological order for you guys. My writing has been jumping around the timeline lately, though. I've shuffled the chapters I have yet to post around a few times. I wanted to make sure I got the order right before posting too much more. There's a chapter coming up that will change...everything, making some situations a lot different if they come before the chapter compared to if they come after that chapter. But I think I've got it pinned down now.

So, go onward and enjoy!


Cloaked in Safety

Mahin exits the ramp of the old starship freighter, wiping her greasy hands on a rag as her eyes scan the spaceport. She spots the human pilot—a dark-skinned woman with braids piled intricately on the top of her head—around near the front of the ship signing for a delivery of fresh cargo. The kid's pod follows behind her as Mahin approaches the woman, standing a respectful distance away until she finishes up with the delivery and turns to acknowledge Mahin.

"Your fuel leak's all patched up," Mahin informs her, stuffing the rag in her pocket. "It was rather small. Didn't take much to fix."

The pilot breathes a deep sigh of relief. "Thank the Maker. I was afraid I'd have to delay my departure another day. You make quick work."

"It wasn't much trouble." Mahin holds out her hand to take the agreed upon credits, stuffing them in her pocket with the rag as well. "Well, I better get back to my own ship. Safe travels."

"May the Force be with you."

A smile pricks at the corners of Mahin's lips. So many of the New Republic use that phrase but few truly remember its meaning. "And you as well."

Mahin saunters back through the spaceport towards the Razor Crest. She unzips her coveralls as she walks, peeling the top half from her body and tying the sleaves around her waist. The child gives a curious coo from his pod.

She smiles at him. "Yep, kid, I'm all done. For now, at least. I might try to find some more clients this afternoon, but how about we play for a while, huh?"

His ears perk up in excitement at that.

"Then again," Mahin murmurs as the Razor Crest comes into view and she spots Mando heading for the rear ramp from the opposite direction, "hold that thought."

When Mando spots them, he quickly pivots on his heel to cross the distance between them. Rather like he's in a hurry. And with no sign of the bounty.

Oh, boy, Mahin thinks. What happened this time?

"You only left an hour ago," she says when he reaches her, watching as his helmet stays on a swivel like he expects trouble any second. "Were there problems catching the bounty or something?"

"Something like that." Mando gets an arm around her waist and pulls her up the ship's ramp while pushing the kid's pod in front of them.

"Woah, Mando, slow down." She spins out of his hold once they're out of sight of onlookers, turning to face Mando. Tension flows off of him in waves. He keeps looking back down the ramp with one hand held tightly to the hilt of his blaster. "What's wrong?"

He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I spotted Stormtroopers in town."

Mahin's blood turns to ice as she stumbles back, head shaking in denial. "No, no…."

Stormtroopers. They always find her. How do they always kriffing find her?

Mando grabs her beneath the elbows to steady her. "Hey, easy, easy." He punches the controls to close the rear ramp and then leads her to sit on a nearby crate.

Mahin sits with his help, mind spinning in circles and ears straining like those Imperial boots are just around the corner. "I…." She struggles to take in a full breath of air around her hammering heart. "I…We leave, right? We…We need to leave before they…."

"It's okay, it's okay, they don't know we're here." Mando kneels in front of her, placing his hands on her knees. A comforting weight. She focuses on it, on Mando, letting it draw her mind back away from the panic. "They didn't see me. We're safe."

"Yeah, for now." She takes his hands and he squeezes back. "So what do we do?"

His thumbs run along the backs of her knuckles. "I'm sorry," he says, full of worry and regret, "but we can't leave yet. I need to finish this job. We need the credits."

Fear tightens Mahin's throat, her voice only coming out in a whisper, "I-I got some credits today working on a ship for someone."

"I'm sorry, but you know that won't be enough to cover us."

She does know that. She knows what she made today is only about a tenth of what Mando makes per bounty. Not enough to cover fuel, food, or even just the cost of the star port lot. Still, it was worth a shot. "What if they find us while you're gone?"

"They won't."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you're both coming with me."

Her eyes fly to his visor incredulously. "Are you serious?

"I'd rather have you with me where I can protect you than leave you here where they can find you alone."

Maker, yeah, that's preferable to Mahin, too. Still…. "I'm scared, Mando."

"I know."

"No, you don't." She swallows around the knot in her throat. Images echo in her mind of a dark, emotionless room. Mahin strapped to a metal table with a round interrogator droid hovering over her. The Inquisitor with the devilish yellow eyes. He assumed she was a padawan to a master. He tortured her for days demanding to know where he might find other Jedi.

Wisteria.

Mando's hands move to cup her face, thumbs softly stroking her cheeks. "You can tell me."

Mahin closes her eyes, gripping his wrists tightly. "I was captured, once. By the Empire. Before it fell." A chill runs through her as she remembers the pain—so much pain—more than she ever endured before. Or since. "The things they did to me, Mando. It was sheer luck that I managed to escape." She rubs at her leg, the one with the blaster scar. "I almost bled out doing it."

"That won't happen again," he tells her fiercely. "I won't let it. I promise. You will be safe with me."

It's funny. When Mando decided to let her stay on the Razor Crest, he said he couldn't guarantee her safety. And Mahin was okay with that. The child comes first. She'll gladly put her own life in danger for the kid.

But now he says he will keep her safe. With all the assurance only a fully trained Mandalorian warrior can give.

Her eyes open to stare into his visor, wishing not for the first time that she could see eyes staring back at her. But she can feel them. Their strength. Their conviction. Their warmth. It brings a smile out of her, fighting through the fear. "I know. I trust you."

He brings his forehead forward to touch hers. "Thank you, ner ka'ra."

Cooing draws their attention downward. The kid had climbed out of his pod to now stand at their feet. He touches the armor on Mando's thigh, looking up at them imploringly with those big dark eyes of his.

Mando chuckles, scooping up the kid in one arm. "You and me will protect her, right, buddy?"

The kid lets out a giggling squeal, probably not even sure what it is they're talking about but onboard for anything.

At least, that's what Mahin thinks. Until she feels a presence in the Force growing closer, tapping on her shoulder. Someone familiar. Mahin opens herself up to him, not really able to tell the kid "no" even though she knows she should. If she wants to stay distant from the Force, she should. But she does it anyway. And when her and the child connect through the Force, she has to hold back a gasp so Mando won't notice how much the kid blindsides her.

The child can't talk through the Force. Not in words, anyway. But he sends feelings. Thoughts.

She can feel his deep desire to protect them. All three of them.

Mahin lets out sniffling laughter, taking the kid from Mando. "Looks like we're going on an adventure, little guy." He coos again, tilting his head at her curiously. "Yeah. An adventure. Hopefully not as exciting as some of the ones Mando usually gets up to."

"A little excitement never killed anyone," Mando protests lightly, wrapping his arms around Mahin's waist and in turn drawing both her and the child close.

"Yes, but a little can turn into a lot at the drop of a hat. And you know how things love to go sideways on you." He tips his head at her in exasperation and she laughs, more real this time. "Relax, ner ca'tra. I'm just teasing."

He huffs out a laugh as he stands. "Right. Come on. Let's get you two ready."

"So, uh, how are we going to do this? Odds of me not getting recognized if I'm spotted are iffy at best."

"I have an idea for that." He snags the kid's bag from his bunk and puts it on, gently taking the kid from her and slipping him inside. "I'll carry the kid for now. We'll keep him out of sight as much as possible. As for you." He pulls at his cloak, untucking it from the top of his chest plate and pulling it free. Turning it lengthwise, he wraps the cloak around her shoulders and up over her head so it makes a hood. Tucking the ends in at her collar, he steps back to admire his work. "There. This should keep your face hidden enough."

"It's not my face so much as my hair." She makes a few adjustments, making sure all strands of her hair get hidden inside the shadows of her new hood. "That's what always draws their eyes first. Not many redheads in the galaxy with hair as bright as mine. Might be better just to cut it."

"No," Mando replies firmly, turning to his weapons cabinet to grab a few more things.

"But—"

"I said no." He attaches his jetpack to his back before closing the cabinet up and turning to her. His hand slowly reaches inside her hood, fingers grazing along the side of her face to slip a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Mahin shivers. His fingers follow back down the line of her jaw to her chin as he says softly, "Keep it long."

Mahin shivers again. Right. Yeah. Okay. Keeping it long.


There's something oddly comforting about wearing Mando's cloak.

Mahin follows Mando closely through the town streets, the child's pouch kept between them. The crowds are light for mid-afternoon in the planet's rotation. Easy to spot unwanted trouble. Also easy to be spotted, especially walking next to a shiny Mandalorian who draws almost every eye around. But it doesn't make Mahin as nervous as it should, and she feels it's because of Mando's cloak.

Maybe it's because the hood makes it feel like she's hiding from the world—she can look out and see everything but if someone tries to look at her, they'll see mostly shadow. Maybe it's because it's like she's wrapped up in a little piece of him. Maybe it's because she's surrounded by that gun oil, forest-y smell that's, sadly, begun to fade from the shirt she accidentally stole from him.

She turns her face into the fabric, taking a subtle deep breath in.

Yeah. It might be that.

"Nine o' clock," Mando mutters, barely audible over the clattering of a cart that pulls up on their left. A group of men hop out the back when it stops so they can start to unload baskets of food from a harvest.

Just beyond the cart in the shadows of an alley stand two Stormtroopers. The stark white of their armor stands out even in the darkness cast by the buildings.

"How many do you think there are here?" Mahin asks quietly. They seem to be keeping to themselves, mostly out of sight. However, by the stiffness of the locals, their downcast eyes, they definitely know the Stormtroopers are there.

"Not sure. I did a little asking around on the way back to the space port. The magistrate here was a strong Imperial supporter. Somehow lied his way out of imprisonment when the New Republic cleaned house."

"He's not the only one who slipped through the cracks, I'm sure."

"You're right. Apparently, every Imperial in the sector who avoided arrest fled to this planet. The magistrate granted them all asylum in secret. The New Republic is stretched too thin to ever find out about it and the locals are too scared to report it."

"Great. So there could be dozens of Troopers, officers, and who knows what else here."

They shift around a group of people walking slow in front of them, Mando taking the pretense to step a bit closer to Mahin. She can feel his arm at her side, the heat of him seeping through her thin tank top and the jean pants she changed into before they headed out. She doesn't feel much like a mechanic right now. Coveralls set aside, gun strapped to her thigh, cloak covering her shoulders and face, a Mandalorian at her side—she feels mysterious and powerful. Like a warrior. Like a bounty hunter.

She feels like a badass. It helps with the fear as well. Makes it feel not so close. Not so suffocating.

"Alright, here it is," Mando says, leading her down a set of stairs at the side of the street. The steps end at a door. The door blends almost seamlessly with the surrounding brick wall and lacks a handle, giving no sign of a way to open it from the outside. Mando unclips the bounty's tracking beacon from his belt, beeping away at a fast pace. "I tracked the bounty here before spotting the Stormtroopers. Looks like he's still here."

"So how are we doing this?"

Mando shrugs. "We knock politely."

He bangs his fist against the solid metal door, the thunk, thunk, thunks echoing against the brickwork. The sound fades, leaving Mahin's heavy breaths loud to her ears. Her body coils, muscles tensing in anticipation.

One of the bricks next to the door retreats into the wall, sliding away so that the photoreceptor of a gatekeeper driod can pop out on a metal eyestalk. The large mechanical eye jerks up and down as it looks Mando over before asking snobbishly in Huttese, "What do you want?"

"I have business inside," Mando replies in Basic.

"The buy-in is five thousand credits. You do not look like you have five thousand credits."

"We're not here to play. My business is with one of the people inside. We're just here to collect him and then we'll be on our way."

The droid's eye swivels to take in Mahin. She quickly tilts her head down and away so the cloak can hide her face before the droid scans her. The fewer people here who know what she looks like, the better.

It pauses on her for a few seconds before darting back towards Mando. "Access denied, bounty hunter."

The gatekeeper droid then darts back into its little hole, brick sliding back into place and leaving the entrance impenetrable once more.

"Well," Mando sighs, pulling out his gun, "looks like we're doing this the less polite way."

"Now, hold on a second," Mahin says, slipping in front of Mando to stand at the wall. She runs her hands along the bricks, fingers probing in a few places to the side of the door. "There's gotta be a way to open the door from the outside."

"Doesn't look like it."

"True, but if they hid the gatekeeper droid with a brick then maybe…." Mahin finds a small depression in one of the bricks, barely perceptible when she runs the pad of her thumb over it, but definitely there. She presses. With a soft hiss and a click, the brick slides back and away like what happened with the droid. But this time, a security panel pops out, waiting for someone to insert a code cylinder into the slot.

"Well, that doesn't exactly help," Mando grouses.

"So impatient," Mahin tisks teasingly, lifting up her right foot to reach the knife tucked into her boot. "Honestly, Mando, have a little faith."

She sets the tip to a seam in the metal panel, working the blade back and forth until the panel pops open to reveal a tangle of wires. Kneeling down, she sifts through the wires, following the connections with her eyes until she finds the two wires she wants. Severing them, Mahin quickly strips one end from each wire and holds them just out of reach of each other. "Ready?" she asks.

Mando stands poised in front of the door with his gun held up. He keeps his other hand hovering protectively over the kid where he hangs at Mando's hip. "Ready."

Mahin touches the two wires together. Sparks fly, the circuitry fizzles, and then the door slides open with a whoosh.

Mando instantly lifts his foot to kick at whoever stands in front of the doorway. There's a muffled oof from inside and Mando advances in. Mahin scrambles to her feet, drawing her own blaster and quickly following Mando inside. He stands over a Rodian, a lone sentry guarding the door and no match for a Mandalorian. He lies on the floor, hands held up in surrender to the blaster Mando shoves in his face.

"Don't make a sound," Mando warns him, voice like the whisper of a blade slipping from its sheath. Mahin rarely sees him in bounty hunter mode. He always tries to keep it away from her and the kid as much as possible—the violence, the danger, the bounties who do unspeakable things.

Now, Mahin must become a part of it.

Mahin stands at Mando's shoulder, blaster held tightly in her hand and ready to use it if she must. Ready to do whatever she must to see them all through this in one piece.

Mando jerks his blaster towards the open doorway, gesturing to the street beyond. "Leave. Warn anyone and you'll be seeing me again real soon."

The Rodian gives a frantic nod, scurries to his feet and out the door. He disappears around a corner down the street.

Mando waits, cocking his head like he's listening, and then nods. "Alright. I think we're in the clear."

Mando goes first down the narrow hallway with Mahin right behind him. It's dim and damp, cigarette smoke hanging heavy in the air. Mahin's nose wrinkles with the stench. It gets worse the further they go, the clamoring din of overlapping voices growing louder with it.

They come to another door. This one opens without fuss, letting them into a large room packed full with people and sabacc tables from wall to wall. Credits pass hands faster than Mahin can blink, scantily clad Twi'lek waiters weaving through the chaos with practiced ease as they distribute a rainbow selection of alcohol.

The Twi'leks seem nervous, Mahin notices, shoulders tense and eyes darting back and forth towards one side of the room.

The same side Mando leads them to. Of course.

And when they pass a rowdy group of players, Mahin realizes why the Twi'leks seem nervous. At the far side of the room, at the largest of the tables, sits a man more finely dressed than anyone else here. Expensive suit tailored to his slim frame, clean, smooth hands that haven't known a day of physical labor, and a pile of credits in front of him at least three times the size of anyone else sitting at his table. The magistrate, if Mahin had to guess.

An easy guess considering the two Stormtroopers standing behind his chair like bodyguards.

Mando presses his hand gently to the top of the kid's head, encouraging him to sink down in his bag as much as possible. But Mando doesn't change course. He takes them straight over to that table, tracking fob beeping with greater and greater intensity.

Because of course.

Mando stops in front of the table. The players eye him nervously but still continue to sling around cards and credits in their game. The Stormtroopers look at each other for a moment before facing froward again, their helmets giving no indication of what they think of the Mandalorian bounty hunter now standing in front of them.

"Well, well, well," the magistrate says, voice as posh sounding as his clothes. He taps his cards against the table thoughtfully as he eyes Mando up and down, leaning back in his chair and legs crossed like he hasn't a care in the world. "A Mandalorian. I thought you were all wiped out."

"Obviously not," Mando deadpans, fingers clenching sporadically around the blaster still in his hand.

The magistrate's eyes flick to the blaster and then away again, probably hoping Mando wouldn't notice.

If Mahin noticed, then Mando definitely did.

"So, what can I help you with, Mandalorian?"

"Nothing. My business is with someone else."

"Oh? And who might that be?"

Mando pulls out the bounty puck and tosses it onto the table. The puck gives a loud thunk when it lands, making the Weequay it stops in front of jump near out of his seat. The hologram on the puck activates to project that same Weequay's face in the air. His shoulders rise up to his ears as he cowers in his seat.

"Dom Dilikay," Mando says. "You're coming with us."

"I…." Dom's hands shake so bad that he drops his cards. "I…I…."

"Now hold on a moment," the magistrate says, holding up his hands pragmatically. "Dom, here, still owes me a lot of money. You see, he's on quite the losing streak."

"He owes someone else on Coruscant a lot more."

The Weequay goes paler. If Weequays can go pale. He looks less green anyway.

"That is not my concern," the magistrate says, all levity leaking away from his demeaner. The Stormtroopers at his back shift, ready for an order. "Dom owes me. You will not take him anywhere until I take what I'm owed."

Mando's helmet tips down as he looks over the table. "Doesn't look like he has much left to give."

The magistrate's lips curl up into a cruel smile. "There are other ways to take what I'm owed."

Dom lets out a terrified squawk.

"Do you hear that, Dom Dilikay?" Mando says, almost teasingly. "He would take you in cold. But me, I would take you in warm. If you agree to come peacefully. You'll probably stand a much better chance on Coruscant than here from the looks of it."

Dom's head bounces back and forth between the magistrate and Mando. Back and forth. Back and forth. Then, finally, he looks to Mando and nods frantically.

The magistrate's eyes narrow, turning cold like steel. "I'm sorry, Mandalorian, but I cannot allow that."

He snaps his fingers. The two Stormtroopers behind him raise their blasters to point at Mando, the clicks of their safeties switching off echoing in the suddenly dead silent room.

Mahin tenses as she senses movement behind her. Not one of the players. Someone hostile. She can feel it. In one fluid motion, she pivots to place her back against Mando's and points her blaster at the two additional Stormtroopers trying to sneak up behind them.

Four Stormtroopers. Decent enough odds, but with all these people here, it's going to get messy. They sit staring at the scene playing out in trepidation and fear. Some of them have started easing towards the exits but many more sit frozen at their sabacc tables. Like they can't help it, like watching a building burn. The destruction. The fury. It draws the eye and takes hold, not letting go even when the flames spread too close.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Mando warns the magistrate. He shifts his weight backwards for just a moment, just enough to bump his back against Mahin's. Letting her know he's here. He's ready.

The magistrate's lips stretch into a cocky smirk. "Oh, I don't know about that."

Mahin's jaw clenches. She needs to do something, and fast, or else a lot of people are going to get hurt. She scans over the room. What they really need is a distraction. Something she can give, but she needs a little misdirection as well, just in case.

She reaches out through the Force, making contact with the child herself for a change. He instantly perks up at the attention, ready and eager. Using thoughts, feelings, and images, Mahin conveys her plan to the child.

A burst of determination echoes out in the Force and Mahin smirks.

Mahin sets her eyes on one of the sabacc tables, sensing the child focusing behind her on his own target. Together in unison, they push out with the Force, flinging tables wildly through the air. Cards and credits fly up like confetti, voices cry out in surprise, and people scramble out of the way to avoid getting hit.

The Stormtroopers spin towards the commotion ready for some kind of attack.

They get an attack, all right. Just not from where they think.

Mahin and Mando raise their blasters, aim, and fire before the last sabacc card settles on the floor. All four Stormtroopers crumple to the ground with matching smoking holes in their flimsy chest plates. People scream, the sudden blaster fire finally snapping the tether that held them in place as they race for the exits.

The magistrate gets to his feet so fast that his chair topples over behind him. Mahin turns back around to catch a glimpse of his gaping mouth and she has to suppress a chuckle.

The kid threw the magistrate's table.

The magistrate and Dom don't so much as twitch towards the exits, both wary of Mando's blaster still pointed in their direction. Mahin keeps her blaster held at her side, ready but sensing an end to the excitement of the night.

"I take a job, I do it, I get paid," Mando says in the sudden quiet, the words like the rumble of an approaching thunderstorm. And if you can hear the thunder, you're close enough to get struck by lightning. "Dom is coming with us. We're turning him in for the bounty, and you're going to let us. Or else, when we get back to the Guild, I'm going to look into whether or not you have a bounty. And even if you don't, I'm sure the New Republic would love to hear more about you."

"You have no proof of anything," the magistrate snarls.

"I have plenty. My helmet has recording capability. I have plenty of footage of you in charge of these Stormtroopers."

Finally, the magistrate looks truly scared. It takes all of Mahin's self-control not to shoot Mando a look that the magistrate would be able to see.

She knows all the little tricks in Mando's armor. Recording capabilities are definitely not part of the package. The magistrate obviously doesn't know that, though.

Mando lets it sit for a beat before he holsters his blaster, cuffs Dom, and the three of them walk out the door without any further resistance.

The child's sleepy satisfaction brushes against Mahin through the Force before he drifts off to sleep in Mando's bag.

Mando sets a quick pace through the town that Mahin has to jog to keep up with. It draws even more eyes than before. Mahin thinks about suggesting they slow down, but she can feel a desperation and worry wafting off of Mando in waves. His shoulders are stiff, free hand clenched at his side while his other hand steers Dom jerkily through the streets more roughly than needed even though Dom goes with them willingly.

This entire thing has set Mando on edge. Mahin can't really blame him, but they should be in the clear now. The magistrate was properly freaked out. He won't come after them.

Right?

They make it to the ship. As soon as they're up the ramp, Mahin makes a beeline for the ladder. "You take care of him," she says, already pulling herself up the rungs. "I'll get us out of here."

"Good," Mando says as he turns towards the carbonite freezer. Dom starts to give a token protest that cuts off by the time Mahin plops down in the pilot seat.

In a matter of moments, Mahin has them rising through the sky and out of the atmosphere, propelling them into hyperspace soon after. She slouches back in the chair with a tired sigh. What a day. It wasn't even all that physically exhausting, but she still feels insanely tired. She would chalk it up to using the Force for the first time in a very long time, but she wouldn't call herself as inexperienced as the kid, either. Not even after so long since she last truly trained as a padawan.

She lifts up her hands, palms down. Tremors run through them like the vibrations of an unstable engine.

It's just…been a day.

She gets up slowly to test her legs. A bit steadier than her hands, but only just. With shuffling steps, she makes her way back to the ladder. From the top, she can see Mando's open bunk, the kid already nestled into his little hammock sleeping soundly. But no sign of Mando.

When she makes it to the bottom of the ladder, she catches movement around the edge of the makeshift hood she still wears, along with the glimmer of metal. She turns to face Mando with a question half-formed in her mind. Only for it to fizzle away as he wraps his arms around her and draws her close.

She stands completely still, chest pressed to beskar, mind blank for the longest second of her life before it catches up and she lifts her arms to cling back.

Mando tugs his cape loose from around her shoulders and head, letting it flutter to the floor. She misses it briefly, but then Mando tugs her even closer. She lifts up on her toes to press her nose against his collarbone. She breathes in deeply, forest and gun oil, his scent and presence and arms wrapped around her better than any cloak.

"I'm sorry," Mando murmurs, helmet resting against the top of her head. "I'm so, so, sorry."

The tremors migrate from just her hands to the rest of her body. Mando clutches her more tightly, one hand sliding up from her shoulders to the back of her neck. The shaking settles a bit. "Not your fault, Mando," she tells him. "You didn't know it was going to be like that."

"I never should have risked it. I should have gotten you and the kid out of there as soon as I spotted the first Trooper."

"It's like you said. We need the credits."

"Kriff the credits. You two are more important than a bunch of credits. They could have…."

"But they didn't." She curls her fingers into his shirt beneath the armor at his back, trying to offer the same comfort he gives her. "We're all safe. We took care of the Stormtroopers. That magistrate practically wet himself at the end. We're in hyperspace with no one following us and we're okay."

Just saying the words out loud eases tension from her shoulders. They really are okay. Still, Mando doesn't let her go yet.

"I'm still sorry," he says.

Mahin nuzzles her face against his chest. "You said you would keep us safe. And I believed you. And you did. That's all that matters."

It's true. She was terrified at first, but with Mando at her back, protecting her, she feels that she could take on a hundred Stormtroopers and everything would be okay. They protect each other. So long as they're together, they can face anything.

Mando huffs out a barely-there laugh. "Really, it was the kid who did the saving, distracting them like that."

Mahin hides her smirk against his shirt, happy that her little misdirection worked. And insanely proud of the kid. "Perhaps he's learned a thing or two, living with you."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing."

Mahin pulls back finally so she can look up at Mando, giving him a soft smile. "I don't know about that. I think he's lucky. I think we're both very lucky."

Mando cups the side of her face and she leans her cheek against the softness of his glove. She tugs at his shirt. He obligingly lowers his head to rest his forehead against hers. All the tremors are gone, now, all the fear and unease from the day replaced with warmth.

"I think I'm the lucky one, ka'ra."


Author's Note

Ah, protective!Mando. So much fun.

Also, I have such a soft spot with Mahin wearing Mando's things. I had to do the cloak eventually.

We also have Mahin using the Force a little bit more...

Next chapter has more protective!Mando. Because I have a soft spot for that as well and can't help myself.

One last thing. I binged The Sandman show on Netflix in, like, a day and fell in love. My muse fell in love as well, so I've been plotting out a fic. It's another OC insert, my specialty, though won't directly follow the show. Well, it does a little bit in the beginning but only until Dream escapes. So, if you're interested, stay tuned! I'm hoping to start posting in a month or so. I just have to finish plotting it out and get a few chapters ahead.

Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!


Translations

Ner ka'ra - My star

Ner ca'tra - My night sky