Hi folks! Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

-Moki

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Din stood in the new landing bay waiting for Cara's ship to arrive, with Grogu in his usual spot in the crook of his father's left elbow. While they waited, Din took a moment to look around, admiring the immense amount of work that had been done after the old hangar was destroyed – the day the cruiser fell out of the sky and conveniently took out Moff Gideon.

The teams Bo put together had been working tirelessly to bring Mandalore back to life and it showed in places like the new hangar bay, as well as the housing units being installed underground. The surface was still too damaged to build upon, covered in a layer of trinitite glass, caused by the fusion bombs that fell during the Night of a Thousand Tears. Those who sought to obliterate their race assumed their planet was dead, their people dead. They were wrong on both counts.

While the surface of the planet still bore stark evidence of the destruction, underground was a different story. Once you went past the spires of green crystallized trinitite, you found the true heart of the planet. There, the Great Forge burned brightly. People worked to rebuild while others trained and sparred. The Guardians cared for the foundlings.

Mandalore was also learning to fend for herself. The subterranean gardens and rivers were thriving and full of life. They provided plenty of fresh fish, as well as fruits and vegetables. All of which supplemented the provisions obtained by trading with places like Plazir-15 and Nevarro.

The sound of Cara's ship coming in for a landing pulled Din out of his thoughts. Grogu jumped up and down on his father's vambrace when he caught sight of their old friend. Though they'd spoken via holocomms a few times, they hadn't actually seen each other in person since Cara left Nevarro to join Special Forces.

"Mando," Cara's smile was wide as she strode down the ramp and reached out to grasp Din's arm in their typical greeting.

"Long time, no see," Din said, returning the gesture.

"Tell me about it. And how are you, little one? I hear you've been working hard and doing all kinds of fun magic tricks now." She rubbed Grogu's ear, and he purred happily.

Cara shook her head at Din. "Defeating three Praetorian Guards? Taking back Mandalore? Killing Moff Gideon in a blaze of glory? And now you're working for the New Republic? You guys have been busy, haven't you?"

Din huffed a short chuckle. "You could say that."

"So, when do we leave?"

Din always liked how Cara got right down to business.

"Now. If you're okay with that. I didn't know how long you were traveling and if you needed time to rest."

She waved a hand at him with a snort. "Nah, I'm good."

"Okay, then. Why don't you get your gear, and we'll go to the ship. I just need to drop Grogu off with the Guardians. Then we'll head back this way and I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

Din had told Grogu he was staying behind and would be bunking in the Foundling Hall for the duration of the mission. The child hadn't been happy but had accepted it when Din pointed out he'd be training with the other foundlings and learning some necessary skills for a Mandalorian apprentice.

Once the boy was in the care of the Guardians, Din and Cara went back to the landing bay and walked up to the Gauntlet.

"Is this yours?" Cara studied the ship with a trained eye. "This is a combat ship, a troop transport if my guess is right. I thought you had that N-1 starfighter."

"I do."

"Then whose ship is this?"

"Mine," Bo appeared as they came up the ramp and entered the lower deck.

"Oh, hey," Cara cleared her throat. "Good to see you again…uh… Your Highness? I don't know what I'm supposed to call you now that you're officially the leader of an entire planet."

"And not just some crazy person bent on getting back a mysterious sword and willing to kill anyone who got in her way?" Bo quipped with a crooked grin and raised eyebrow.

Cara laughed. "Something like that."

"Bo is fine. More than fine. I prefer it, actually."

"Okay, well that's easy. Good to see you again, Bo." Cara reached out and shook hands with the woman who definitely seemed in a much better mood than the last time the shock trooper had seen her.

"So, who's our fourth?" Cara asked, looking around.

"Sorry I'm late, brother."

Cara turned as another member of Din's clan came stomping up the ramp, carrying several bags. She wondered briefly what kind of soldier needed that much baggage for a field mission, then noted the medical insignias.

"We have a medic? That will be handy, especially with you around," Cara said, grinning at Din and giving him a light punch in the arm.

Din sighed and the medic laughed. "Ah, I see you've discovered my brother's penchant for getting himself into trouble."

"If you mean nearly getting himself killed on a regular basis? Then, yes."

"I'm Med. Balmed Rosca, the team's medic, as you've already guessed." The medic shifted one of his bags to hold out his hand and Cara shook it. She noted the man's firm grasp, but also detected a layer of something else underneath the strong grip. If she had to label it, she'd call it a sort of gracefulness. They were hands that were powerful, but also delicate enough to heal. She found herself instantly intrigued by this new Mandalorian – a man she'd never met who also felt familiar somehow.

"Cara Dune, Special Forces, but on leave to help out an old friend."

Cara hadn't had many run-ins with Mandalorian medics and continued to observe the man curiously. She and Din had always done their own patch-ups whenever injuries had occurred on any of their missions, with the occasional visit to a local med center when absolutely necessary. Would this medic also be helpful when it came time to fight? He was in full armor, and obviously a Child of the Watch, but who knew how much field experience he had. Strong, graceful hands did not necessarily mean usefulness in battle.

"Good to have you, Cara," Med said, studying the fourth on their mission. When Din had told him about his shock trooper friend, Med hadn't been picturing… honestly, he didn't know what he'd been picturing, but it sure wasn't the woman standing before him. With the helmet as perfect cover, Med took a moment to take a good look at Cara, noting at once the teardrop tattoo under her left eye. He didn't know what it meant and though he was tempted to ask Din when they were alone, Med decided not to. Something told him it was personal. If he was meant to know about it, perhaps someday Cara would tell him herself.

Med realized he'd been holding Cara's hand for a while, and even a helmet couldn't completely hide the fact that he'd been doing everything short of ogling her. He pulled away under the guise of adjusting his gear again. Luckily, she didn't appear to notice the unusually long handshake.

"I see I've got a lot of catching up to do," Cara turned to Din, crossing her arms. "I'm going to need to hear the story about how you have a brother that I've never heard of after all the years I've known you." Knowing Din's history, Cara didn't think the two men were related by blood. She was familiar enough with Mandalorian culture to suspect that they were foundling brothers, but still, it was strange that Din had never mentioned the medic during all their travels.

"Ah, yes, well it's a good story, I assure you," Med said, walking past them into the ship to store his supplies. He fought the urge to steal another surreptitious glance at her as he walked by, failed miserably, then thanked the Maker it was hidden by the beskar on his head. He wasn't sure what it was about her that made him want to stare, but he told himself to knock it off and get back to work.

Too occupied with his own thoughts, Med missed the equally sly look Cara slid at him as he passed by, still trying to figure out why he looked familiar to her. But Bo caught Cara's attention, making her look away from the other Mandalorian's retreating back.

"Come on, Cara. I'll show you where you can stow your bag, then give you a tour, so you'll know the lay of the ship," Bo motioned for the former shock trooper to follow her on board.

Oblivious to the looks between Med and Cara, Din brought up the rear and closed the ramp behind them. He had already brought his own bag and weapons aboard so they could leave as soon as Cara arrived.

Once everyone's gear was put away, they went to the ship's upper level and into the cockpit. Bo took a seat in the pilot's chair while Din took his customary spot in the navigator's position. That left two more chairs, Cara sat in the one behind Din while Med sat behind Bo.

After they were in flight and the ship's course was set for their destination, Din went over his plan for the mission. He'd waited until Cara's arrival, so they could all hear it at once.

The New Republic had an outpost that was in trouble on a planet in the Outer Rim. They'd lost the tenuous control they'd gained in the small town when Imps had overrun the post during a night raid about a week ago. The outpost crew had survived the attack and were currently hiding out, but they wouldn't last much longer. The Imperial remnants were methodically hunting them down and would have no problem taking out every single one of them to ensure there would be no resistance to taking back the city. Knowing the New Republic was spread thin, they didn't anticipate any pushback to their plan.

Once again, another bunch of Imperial remnants hadn't planned on the fact that the New Republic would have help from a Mandalorian – and his team of trained warriors.

As Din went into more details about the plan of attack and rescue, he gave everyone their individual assignments. Bo had to bite back a surprised response when Din mentioned he'd be running point with Cara, as she had assumed she would be partnering with Din on the mission. The two of them had worked as a team a few times and she always thought they had meshed well.

But from what Din told her about Cara, he and the Special Forces soldier had known each other for years. Din met the dropper not long after he rescued Grogu and the two teamed up on multiple jobs after that. They had saved each other's lives more than once and had countless missions together under their belt.

The more she thought about it, the more Bo knew that it shouldn't have been a shock to find out Din and Cara would be partnering up this time around. Bo realized that, as a team, they had the most experience together. And while she and Med may not have worked with each other on a mission, they had spent a lot of time together when Din was sick. When looked at it that way, it made sense to Bo that Din would want to pair her with Med. More sense than it did to put Cara with either her or Med. It was the smartest move to ensure the smooth operation of the mission.

Bo told herself all of that, and yet she still felt…something…when the order came down that she would be splitting up from Din. She ignored whatever the feeling was – assuming it had to do with having to relinquish control – and took her orders like any other warrior. Mand'alor or not, she was not in charge of this mission, and she was going to do her job.

A few hours into the flight, they had gone over the plan several times, and everyone knew their assigned positions. With the ship on auto-pilot, they moved to the lower level to prep the main deck for the oncoming outpost crew. They had no idea how many were wounded, so Med had brought enough supplies to treat at least a dozen.

In preparation for the mission, Bo had asked the flight technicians on Mandalore to convert the main hold and store away the seats that usually deployed troops from the air. That left the deck clear for the cots she had requested as well. The team of four worked efficiently together, setting up the temporary beds, and putting medical gear where Med told them.

As they worked, the conversation turned to catching up, and their resident shock trooper was finding out more about their resident medic. Cara had learned about Med nearly dying in the battle on Nevarro, then spending years on another planet after his rescue, as well as Din's subsequent assumption that his brother had perished that night. Now she understood Din's reluctance to mention his brother when they met. She was just happy the two had been reunited.

Now Cara wanted to ask something else that had been on her mind ever since Med had introduced himself.

"Wait, so your name is Med and you're a medic? Isn't that a little…I don't know…on the nose?" Cara took another bag of supplies and stored it under the cot where Med indicated.

Med chuckled as he reached for more medpacs. "Yeah well, no one ever accused me of…"

"Being original," Bo finished for him with a laugh, looking up from the cot she was covering with a blanket.

From the other side of the deck Din groaned, putting a gloved hand on his helmeted head as if the mere words gave him a headache.

Med turned to Bo, pointing at Din in triumph. "See? I told you it would make him groan."

Cara shook her head. "That's because it's a terrible joke."

"Well, it made Bo laugh," Med's feeble defense brought snorts of laughter from Bo and Cara, and even Din chuckled.

"Ah, at least that made you laugh, old man," Med said.

"Okay that's it, I have to finally ask," Bo turned to Med. "Why do you keep calling him that?"

"Calling him what?" Cara asked.

"Old man," Bo replied. "He does it all the time and I have to know why," Bo said, turning to Med again, hands on her hips.

"Because he's older," Med said with a shrug, as if that would explain everything.

"Really? How much older?" Bo asked suspiciously.

"Thirteen days," Din grumbled, dropping more medpacs at the end of one of the cots.

"Wait, you guys are only thirteen days apart? Born in the same year cycle and everything?" Cara was surprised.

"Yep," Med nodded as he unpacked his trauma bag to prepare for the worst of the wounded. "And believe me, he used those thirteen days to his full advantage when we were kids. Tell them, old man."

Din sighed, and Cara laughed.

"Ha! I know that sigh. He's telling the truth, isn't he?"

"Yes," Din admitted, not pausing in his work. "When we were kids, it paid off to be the older one."

"How?" Bo asked.

"They always put him in charge if we were paired off for any duties," Med hooked a thumb at his brother.

Din shrugged, not at all ashamed. "I wasn't above using it to my advantage."

"But when we got older, I flipped it on him. It's not nearly as fun now, when you're the old man and I'm still in the bloom of my youth, is it brother?"

Din sighed, turning to his friends. "As soon as we became adults, he started calling me 'Old Man.'"

"Don't act so touchy. Why don't you tell them what you used to call me when we were kids?" Med said, pausing in his work to fold his arms.

Din was silent for several moments and Bo swore she could feel a smirk lurking under the beskar.

"I bet this is gonna be good. Come on, what was it?" Cara must have detected the smirk as well.

"Baby Brother," Din admitted finally, confirming both Bo and Cara's suspicions when the smirk showed up in his voice.

"That's not so bad," Bo said to Med.

"It is when you're a young man of fourteen and trying to show off for the young ladies in the Foundling Hall. Not that I ever had a chance with him around – they all flocked to him anyway – but still."

Din chuckled lightly.

"How did you discover you were almost the same age?" Cara asked.

"We figured it out not long after we also realized we were rescued from the same planet," Med replied.

"And speak the same native language," Bo confirmed.

"They do?" Cara asked, a bit stunned to find out there was something else she didn't know about Din after the years she had known him.

"Well, not that I've heard it," Bo admitted.

"Now I'm going to need to hear it. Come on, Mando, say something," Cara turned to Din with a smile.

Din cleared his throat. "I..uh… haven't spoken it in a while. Maybe another time." He looked briefly at Med, who caught his glance but didn't say anything.

Cara shrugged, but Bo studied Din out of the corner of her eye as they all went back to work. She was sure there was something he wasn't telling them, though she would never push him on it.

"If he hasn't spoken it, then how did you know, Bo?" Cara asked.

"What?" Bo tore her attention from Din to look at the other woman.

"How did you know about their shared language?"

"Med mentioned it when Din was sick."

"Sick?"

"He was poisoned by nano-droids and nearly died."

"When was this?"

"Right before Life Day."

"And you didn't tell me?" Cara spun to give Din a stern look. Bo could see that, on the one hand, Cara seemed genuinely worried about the fact that Din had been in danger. On the other hand, the dropper also looked ready to deck him because he hadn't told her about it. It was an interesting contradiction.

"I was a bit preoccupied when it happened. Then it didn't seem important after the fact, and besides, I'm fine now," Din gave another shrug.

"All right, what else haven't you told me? Sit. Tell me everything."

As they had just finished setting up the cots, Din discovered he had no excuse to refuse her request.

"Fine," Din agreed. "But only if you tell me everything you've been up to since the last time I saw you."

Within minutes the two were talking fast, trading stories. Cara laughed out loud at a few of Din's anecdotes and Din chuckled a few times at hers. They became lost in their own world, momentarily unaware of the other two people in the room.

With the main hull prepared for the mission, and Din and Cara deep in conversation, Bo decided to walk back up to the cockpit. She sat down in the pilot's chair and looked out the window. Still on auto-pilot, the ship was hurtling through hyperspace and the stars streaked by in the inky black expanse. Minutes passed as Bo found herself deep in thought, and feeling melancholy for reasons she couldn't quite place, until a voice spoke up behind her.

"It's always so beautiful in hyperdrive, isn't it?"

Bo turned to see Med standing on the bridge. He settled into the chair behind her left shoulder, and she saw his head move as he watched the streaking lights outside.

"I guess it is. I've seen it so many times, I think I sometimes get a little bored with it."

Med sighed. "I never get bored with it. Unlike my well-traveled brother, I've been planet-bound most of my life. Kriff, for a good portion of the last couple decades, we were hidden in the sewers. I was lucky enough to be allowed out to trade for the occasional medical supplies, but still."

"I keep forgetting that about your Covert. How did your people survive being hidden down there?"

"We did what we had to do."

"But what about…?" Bo paused, trying to be delicate. She didn't want to insult Med and Din's former home, but she had always wondered something when Din talked about it. She had never found the right time to ask him though.

"The smell?" Med guessed.

"Well… yeah."

Med laughed out loud. "I wish I could say you get used to it, but you really don't."

Bo laughed as well when Med waved his hand in front of his face dramatically.

Neither noticed that Din had stepped up onto the flight deck behind them. Silent as the well-trained bounty hunter he was, Din observed them as they continued to talk and laugh companionably.

Din hadn't often seen Bo laugh the way she was at the moment, at least not with him. Grogu could occasionally make their leader laugh with his antics, but Din didn't have that skill and he knew it. His brother had always been the jovial one. It worked well for him as a medic. Med often needed to keep people calm when they were injured, and humor usually did the trick.

Din never laughed as hard as Med, it just wasn't in him. Even as youngsters, Din had been more serious than his "little brother". He always assumed it was due to the trauma he'd suffered as a child. Then again, it wasn't as if Med hadn't suffered trauma of his own. They'd both lost their families in the same war, on the same planet.

But where Med had opened up and used humor to help him through the rough spots, Din had stepped back, becoming more closed off. When Din found his calling as a hunter, he discovered the ability to keep his emotions in check had become an asset. Just as Med's humor became an asset in his chosen field as a medic.

It wasn't that Din was cold-hearted, he was just more prone to quiet amusement, which could be easily hidden behind the armor. Enemies might feel like they could take advantage of a lighthearted beroya. He'd seen it happen a few times to others in his field. Din discovered silence to be one of his most useful skills as a hunter, and that had carried over into much of his life. While more recently he had started to relax a bit with close friends, and with his son, he still didn't have an easygoing personality like Med did.

As Din continued to watch Bo talking and laughing with Med, it gave him an odd feeling, one he couldn't quite place, and it confused him. Bo was a good friend and Med was his brother in every way except for blood. If there was a connection growing between the two, whether as friends or anything else, he should be happy for them. And he was. But still he felt… something… as he watched them.

"Hey!" Cara called Din out of the thoughts rattling inside the beskar, coming up behind him in the cockpit. "You know what we haven't done in a while?"

Din turned and tipped his head sideways at her, his version of a raised eyebrow.

"Arm wrestle. Come on, let's go." Cara found a chair near the wall and pulled it up next to the table in the middle of the flight deck. The table was essentially a large holo projector, which helped to prepare troops before going into battle. It also happened to be the perfect height and flat surface they needed for one of their favorite past-times.

"If you want to lose more credits, I'm only too happy to take them from you," Din said, the grin evident in his voice as he pulled up another chair. The table was too wide for them to reach each other from either side, so they used one corner, putting their elbows up and flexing their fingers to get ready for the match.

"Ha! Bring it on, Mando. You cheated last time, anyway."

"I did not. And you can't blame Grogu either, he was asleep."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's do this."

Din chuckled and shook his head, then put his arm out as Cara grasped his hand tightly.

Bo spun her chair slightly to find Din and the shock trooper locked in battle, trading light barbs while they struggled to get the upper hand on one another.

Bo had never seen Din quite so playful before, either physically or verbally. While he could toss out a few good one-liners, and those droll comments of his that made her chuckle, what she was observing now went beyond that. He wasn't exactly acting like a jokester, but it was still a different version of the Din she knew. It made Bo wonder why Din had never been that way with her.

Really? And why would he? She chastised herself. You're not exactly the most relaxed person in the universe, Lady Kryze.

Bo was trying to loosen up, but she still had the background of a princess. One who had lost everything and then spent years fighting to get her planet back, making questionable choices along the way. She might be starting to lose some of that stiff royal background, but observing Din with Cara, she could see she wasn't anywhere near as relaxed as the Special Forces soldier was.

Cara and Din had a different kind of friendship than the one she and Din shared. It made her suddenly remember that Din hadn't even wanted to ask her on the mission, though he always planned to ask Cara to come along. Bo didn't want Din to think of her only as a leader. She wanted him to see her as a friend, and that included not hesitating to ask for her assistance if he needed it.

Din was also still occasionally formal with her, too. While Bo appreciated Din's gentlemanly manner, sometimes she just wanted to converse with her friend, not someone who bowed his head and called her "my lady". Even after all that had happened during the nano-droid poisoning, she still felt his hesitation to fully relax with her.

Maybe to Din, Bo would be a good friend, but also always the Mand'alor, the princess. The person he minded his manners with and asked permission before being too forward. Whereas Cara was someone to hang out with and have wrestling matches with for fun.

As she watched the two old friends continue their match, Bo wondered if it would ever be possible to have that kind of friendship between her and Din. Or would she always be the Mand'alor, the princess, to him?

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Alright folks, there's the latest chapter. What do you think of the various relationships happening? Things will get even more interesting in the next chapter, which is coming soon!