Author Note:
I'm sorry about the wait! No good excuses this time, just me dragging my feet with things. There may be some errors. I rushed through the editing to get it out.
P.S.
Sapora is Corona's neighbor. They share a sun.
"I need you to wait in the ship and do not come out for any reason." Those were Din's first words to Rapunzel as the ship entered Sapora's atmosphere and prepared to land. The planet sat closer to the sun and it show with vibrant red and orange swirls on brown land with soft green seas. Not quite a desert planet, but not the lush forest scape like Corona.
Rapunzel whipped her head toward him with no small amount of dismay and surprise. "What, no, why!" She exclaimed. She wanted to see this new world. She wanted to see all of them. Everything. She couldn't do that on the ship.
Din sighed. "It's dangerous."
"But you'll be there." She held up her frying pan. "And I'll bring this."
Din stared at the frying pan, then her. Unsure. He didn't really feel like it was his right to tell her what to do, but he did feel a responsibility to keep her safe.
She had no experience outside those few days on her planet.
How was he to explain that people regularly tried to kill, maim, rape, and/or enslave each other? And Rapunzel, with her big eyes and too long hair, would draw attention. He couldn't take her with him to get the last bounty. He also couldn't let her wander unprepared and unaware on a unfamiliar planet.
Fuck.
Din sunk into his seat as he thought. His eyes shifted to catch Rapunzel messing with the maps. Her fingers danced over the projection as if she's been doing it her whole life. Instead all she got was a quick crash course of the cockpit so she knew what not to touch and, at her insistence, what she could mess with. The maps and info on various planets had kept her enthralled most of the short flight.
"I'll make you a deal." He started. He already regretted it, but it spilled out anyway. "You stay in here while I find the bounty and I'll take you to the market or the equivalent here."
Rapunzel spun around to face me. Her hair piled in a heap on the floor. Her eyes gleamed with excitement and Din knew he made the right decision. "Could I get something, maybe some clothes, from this market?"
Din blinked and shrugged. "We'll see." It's a toss up on some planets if they'd have clothes to fit a human.
Rapunzel squealed. Her hands clasped together.
He held up a warning finger. "I mean it. You step one foot out this ship when I'm gone, the deals off."
It suddenly hit Rapunzel that she didn't quite know what she agreed to. Her hands landed on her hips as her eyes narrowed. "How long does it take to find a bounty?" Could she be stuck here for months?
Din shrugged and fiddled with the bounty tag. The red light on top of the antenna flashed rhythmically. "It various. But there's food and a bed in the ship. You'll be fine."
Rapunzel huffed. Not really satisfied with that answer, but she suspected it was the best she'd get. "Alright." She went to the hatch and started down the ladder once she saw the ship start to land.
Din followed after landing in a clearing not unlike the one he used on Corona. He stepped up to the hatch, only to be hampered by a rope of hair still making its way down. He shook his head. Unsure if he should do something with it. Should he carry it down like a train on a dress? No. That's stupid. He gathered the rest of the hair still up here and dumped it through the hatch. There.
He climbed down after it. "Maybe you should wrap all that around your arm, like in the forest." He suggested as he stepped over more hair. "Plus, these floors aren't what I'd call clean…"
Rapunzel popped her head up from where it had been buried in his tool crate. A beat up datapad in one hand. The screen cracked. It flickered to life. The white screen darkened around the damage. She grinned. "That's a good idea. Though I should get a hairbrush at some point…" She trailed off with a frown.
Din rubbed the back of his neck. "When we go to the market, we'll look for one." And clothes, he thought as he went to the weapons locker to trade out his broken rifle. Clothes, shoes, more rations. He cringed. He had the credits, but it'd take out a huge chunk till he turned in the bounties. He also needed to refuel while he was here. He turned and stepped back quickly.
He also needed to teach Rapunzel about personal space.
She stood about a foot in front of him. Her big eyes stared up at his visor. "Thank you." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I know its not easy, having me around. Mother says—"
He huffed, interrupting her. "It's fine. You shouldn't put much stock in what she said. If I didn't want you here I would've left you back on Corona." He cleared his throat.
He had gleaned from various conversations that her mother often berated Rapunzel. Fat, lazy, vague, immature, etc. And Gothel had pounded all that garbage into her head till she figured it was true.
Some Mother.
Rapunzel suddenly threw her arms around his middle. Her head rested on his chest. The thin jumpsuit served as the only barrier between her and his bare skin. He didn't remember a time where he was so unclothed around another. It unnerved him and made his pulse jump with excitement at the same time. He took a deep breath and awkwardly patted her back.
She pulled away with a smile. "How long will you be gone?"
"Maybe a day or so. Its hard to tell."
Rapunzel seemed sad by this. "Is it alright if I read this datapad?" She wiggled it in her hand to bring attention to it.
He shrugged. "Sure. It's mainly just maintenance manuals for the ship, though. Pretty dry." Din paused, then went back up the hatch to get his armor. He got ready quickly and hovered by the exit.
Rapunzel squeezed the datapad to her chest with both arms. A shaky smile formed on her lips. "Stay safe."
He stilled, then gave a curt nod and left. There was something nice about those words: stay safe. Din couldn't place it, but he liked it.
He liked it a lot.
Rapunzel, on the other hand, felt a little lost once Din left and the door sealed. A dark thought sat simmering at the corner of her mind. He wanted to keep her locked away too. Mother had, throughout her life, made similar promises. Wait till your older. Maybe if this happened or that. But it never happened, she was never let outside till she did it herself.
She took a deep breath. Din wasn't like that. He meant what he said. She just had to believe that and believe in him. Worse case, she could leave. Her gut clinched at the thought.
A slight tug on her dress brought her out of her thoughts.
Rapunzel looked down at Pascel, perched on her shoulder, with a rueful smile.
Pascel tilted his head.
She nodded. "You're right. No use just standing here, moping." She held up the datapad. The fractured screen made it hard to read at times, but she'd managed. Her finger swiped at the datapad as she flipped through the manuals. Blankets bunched around her legs as she lounged on Din's bed, breathing in his scent. Her eyes lingered on the smug of dirt across the back of her hand. She could use a bath.
Rapunzel looked up. Din did say something about a refresher… and she saw in one of the manuals, something about a shower run on recycled water.
She located the shower easily enough. It was the size of a small closet. Just big enough for a shower head, sink, and mirror. Along with a few nails in the wall that served as hooks for towels.
She hummed. "It probably works like any other shower I'd imagine." She said to the empty room. She turned the shower dail to the left, expecting hot water. Only to get ice cold water. She turned it the other way. Same thing. She huffed. Maybe something was different after all…
Rapunzel padded out to the hall and grabbed the datapad off Din's bed.
She stared at the bed for a moment. "I'll need to make another sleeping space for me." Though the thought of sleeping pressed against Din sent flutters through her lower tummy.
She went back to the shower, datapad in hand, with the lingering image of Din in just his snug-fitting jumpsuit. His corded forearms flexed, exposed by rolled up sleeves...
It took a good while of Rapunzel standing in the shower reading about the shower, before she came to the decision to fix it.
The datapad explained that it did have hot water when turned to the left, so it must be broken.
She could fix it!
Right?
Right. How hard could it be? Plus it's a way for her to be useful. She could fix things around the ship. Help out. The more Rapunzel thought about it, the more excited she got.
She could do this!
Hopefully.