It was another ordinary day in Aurora's Reach—or so it seemed. Asa and Varan had come to Bisk Vi'kiro's droidworks to check on a few things that needed fixing. Bisk, a meticulous and grumpy Bothan, had promised to have a few repairs done on their speeder, and they had arrived to pick it up.

Asa was sitting idly by, absent-mindedly fiddling with a piece of scrap metal that had come from one of the old droids Bisk had brought in. Varan was off talking to Vi'kiro about the specs of the speeder, leaving Asa to her own thoughts. The soft hum of the droidworks was interrupted by the familiar sound of the door sliding open, and a gruff voice echoed through the room.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Hondo Ohnaka's voice rang out, as loud and boisterous as ever.

Asa didn't need to look up to know it was Hondo. His presence was unmistakable—the swagger, the infuriatingly confident way he carried himself. He walked in with his usual wide grin, surveying the room like he owned it. When his eyes landed on Asa, his expression softened, but only for a moment. Then, his gaze moved downward.

It was then that Hondo saw it—the glint of the hilt of Asa's lightsaber poking out from under her jacket. His eyes narrowed, and a mischievous grin spread across his face.

"Well, well... I see I've missed something important, haven't I?" he said, leaning against a workbench with his arms crossed. "A Jedi, now? I thought I taught you better than this, Asa."

Asa stiffened for a moment, surprised. She hadn't planned to show him her lightsaber, but there was no hiding it now. She shifted slightly, pulling the weapon out from under her jacket, the blade igniting with a snap-hiss, casting a soft green light in the dim room. Hondo's eyes lit up, and he grinned even wider.

"Well, I'll be a Mynock's uncle," he said, circling Asa like an eager buyer inspecting a shiny new blaster. "Now that is a fine piece of craftsmanship!"

Before Asa could respond, Hondo's grin widened. "Wait here, I've got something for you."

He turned around and practically skipped out the door, leaving Asa and Varan to exchange puzzled looks.

"You're familiar with him, I take it?" Varan asked quietly, his arms crossed as he watched Hondo's retreating form.

Asa raised an eyebrow, wondering what Hondo had in mind now. She glanced over at Varan, who stood quietly by, his arms crossed. The two exchanged a silent look, but Hondo was already out the door, disappearing around the corner.

"You sure you're okay with him?" Varan asked after a beat, keeping his voice low. "I know you're... familiar with him, but I still don't trust him."

Asa shrugged. "I'm used to him. He's always been around. I know how he works. And I know he means well, in his own way."

Varan looked skeptical, but didn't press it further. The silence between them stretched on until Hondo returned a few moments later, practically buzzing with excitement. In his hands, he held a wrapped bundle, the cloth fraying at the edges as though it had been kept in a drawer for years.

"I was rummaging through some of my treasures, and look what I found!" Hondo said, unwrapping the cloth to reveal a holocron. It was worn and aged, the markings on the surface faded from years of neglect. "A real, authentic Jedi holocron. Been sitting in my junk drawer for ages. But now? Well, now it's yours."

Asa stared at the holocron, her eyes wide. "A Jedi holocron? Where did you get this?"

Hondo waved his hand dismissively, as if the details weren't important. "Ah, the where and when of it are... irrelevant! What matters is you, kid. You've got big things ahead of you now, walking the Jedi path. And I figure you'll need all the help you can get. So here you go."

Asa hesitated for a moment, but then took the holocron from his hands, feeling the weight of it. "I... don't know what to say. This is—"

"Ah, stop right there!" Hondo interjected with a laugh. "No need to thank me. This is just a little something from your favorite pirate. Consider it a gift. You'll need it, I'm sure. Just... promise me one thing, kid." His voice grew more serious, though his grin didn't quite fade. "Promise me you won't forget where you come from. Jedi, pirate... doesn't matter... you've got a choice. But I'm still your old friend Hondo Ohnaka, yeah?"

Asa smiled but couldn't help but feel the weight of his words. Hondo had always been unpredictable, but there was sincerity behind his gestures, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She got up and went to put the holocron away, leaving Varan and Hondo alone.

Hondo's smile faded, and his eyes hardened as he turned to Varan. "You see, I've been around a long time, kid. I've seen a lot. And I've seen what happened to the Jedi. I know the way things went down. I know what the Empire did, and I've watched." His voice dropped, taking on a deadly seriousness that Asa had never heard from him before. "If you let anything happen to her, Varan, I'll be the one who comes after you. Got that?"

Varan looked at him, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What are you saying?"

Hondo's grin was gone now, replaced by something cold, his gaze unblinking. "If anything happens to Asa, if she gets hurt, or if you let anything—anything—happen to her, you won't just have to worry about the Empire. You'll have to worry about me. And believe me, I've got connections you don't want to mess with."

Varan stood still, his jaw clenched, clearly taken aback by the gravity of Hondo's words. But Hondo didn't wait for a response. He continued in that quiet, lethal tone.

"I'll drag you off Batuu by your ear, and no one will ever see you again. I don't care who you are or what you've done. You'll disappear."

Asa returned just as Hondo finished his threat. She paused in the doorway, sensing the shift in the air, the heaviness of the moment that she had walked back into.

Hondo's smile returned instantly as he turned to her. "Ah, there you are, kid! Good to see you're still in one piece!"

Asa gave him a curious look, sensing something had just shifted between the two men, but Hondo was already backing toward the door, his grin returning in full force. "Alright, alright. I've got business to attend to, but just remember this—if anything happens to you, Asa? I'll be watching. Don't think I won't."

He turned and was already out the door before Asa could respond. His voice drifted back to them as he left.

"Take care, my little smuggler! Don't do anything stupid... unless you're with me, of course!"

The door slammed behind him, and the room fell back into silence.

Asa looked at Varan, her brow furrowing. "What did he say to you?"

Varan shook his head, trying to mask the lingering unease in his expression. "Nothing... just a reminder of how far Hondo's loyalty goes."