What if, way before the Mandalorian ever got the bounty for a 50 year old child, he met someone that could turn his whole life around in just a few short days? And what if this person, whoever she is, can help him become the person he didn't even know he wanted to be?
Mandalorian x Female!Reader
***THIS STORY DOES CONTAIN HEAVY SPOLIERS, MOST OF THE CHAPTERS ARE REWRITES OF EACH EPISODE JUST WITH A READER INSERT***
Some more mature themes, especially in the second chapter, but other than that it's whatever happened on the show. I will write more specific warnings in each chapter.
I own absolutely nothing except the reader's actions in the book, her backstory and all of the characters within her backstory.
All of the chapters kinda maybe sorta get longer and longer as they go on but am I sorry? No.
Warnings: mild action, violence and some death, but mostly just very cheesy fluff.
The next morning, the Mandalorian woke up to the sound of some crackling and quiet humming. He quickly put his mask and armour on, and stepped out of the room.
When he saw you cooking an egg on the burner, he felt a little tug pull on his heart strings. He wondered what it would be like to watch you do that every morning. Every morning with clean clothes and a grand kitchen to cook in, with piles and piles of all the food you made. The bounty hunter shook his head as he cleared his mind of those thoughts.
When you heard his footsteps you turned towards the Mandalorian with a big grin plastered on your face. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. I think you may have slept in more than you meant to."
He paused for a moment, thinking. "Why, what time is it?" he replied in a small, monotone voice.
"11:30."
Silence. "What." He hadn't slept that late since... oh god, he can't remember.
You giggled. "Yup, 11:30. Don't you worry, I only have to work at the bar today and that starts at 4. Even so, I would have waited till you woke up."
Silence once more. "Thank you."
You grinned again. "Of course. I've got some more food here for you. I'm sorry it's not much, but it should last you at least till lunch." You placed the food in front of the Mandalorian. "I have to go feed Grandma, and I will be in there until you say it's okay. You're more than welcome to eat in my room if that makes you more comfortable."
You turned around and walked down the hall with a bowl in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
"Thank you." You stopped and turned around.
"Of course. Now eat your food."
The Mandalorian did as he was told. He went into your room, shut the curtain, sat on the bed and looked down at what you gave him: the egg you had just cooked, scrambled. An apple that looked like the freshest apple he had ever seen. 3 grapes that looked crisp, yet juicy. A sausage that looked to be cooked just right. And a piece of bread with butter on it.
Oh my god. The Mandalorian couldn't even begin to imagine how much this cost you, and how much extra you were going to have to work to pay it off. It wasn't even a lot of food, but on this planet? God, this would be equivalent to about 100 credits on Corellia. He couldn't eat this, plus, he could go out and buy his own food later. Maybe he could find a way to hide it here for you.
"You better be eating that food, Lumpy!" you shouted from the other room. How did you know?
He sighed and took off his helmet. He placed it right beside him and slowly started eating the food. He had to give it to you... it was delicious. For not eating many eggs and sausages in your life, you sure were good at cooking them.
Then he remembered that you probably cooked plenty in the restaurant you serve in as well.
He finished up the food quickly and put his helmet back on. As much as he really wanted to stay here with you, he had to go deliver his bounty before someone heard him wake up in his speeder.
He stepped out of the room and placed his plate on the table. He then walked down the hallway towards your Grandma's room, where he opened the curtain to see you feeding her the last of the oatmeal you made.
You must have felt the Mandalorian's stare because you didn't even turn to look at him as you asked, "All done?"
He nodded. "Yes."
You smiled and replied, "Good. I'll pack you a water bottle for your journey."
"That's really not necessary-"
You walked up to him and placed a finger on the part of the mask where his mouth would be, silencing his words. "You saved me, in more ways than you realize. Let me do this for you as my thanks."
The Mandalorian nodded slowly, which caused you to smile. "Thank you."
"No, Lumpy. Thank you."
The bounty hunter watched with masked amusement as you scrambled around the house looking for everything you needed. You walked around the kitchen and placed every last bit of food you had on top of a clean cloth you found in your room. You filled up a pouch with water, then went to go find a string in your room. When you came back to the kitchen you went to the cloth with food on the table and tied it up.
"Oh, I think Grandma wanted a word with you. I'm not sure what she wants but you don't have to go, or if you want me to go with you I can-"
You were cut off by the bounty hunter walking down the hallway towards your Grandma's room. He smiled under his mask as he heard you breathe out, "Yeah, gotta fix the rambling," and go back into the kitchen to do something.
When the Mandalorian walked into your Grandma's room, he went and sat in the chair beside her bed. She seemed to have noticed because she opened her eyes and gave a weak, sad smile.
"You wanted to see me."
Your Grandma nodded. "Yes."
After a few minutes of silence, (it seemed like your Grandma was trying to come up with the correct words), she spoke up.
"Y/N has not had a good experience here. And it breaks my heart every time I see that sweet, smart girl walk in the room with the most beautiful smile on her face because I know the only reason she's here, is for me."
She yawned, then continued, "I want you to protect her."
The Mandalorian furrowed his eyebrows beneath his mask. "Who, Y/N? From what?"
Your Grandma smiled again. "You'll know."
And she fell asleep.
Realizing that the conversation was indeed over (if you can even call that a conversation), the bounty hunter made his way back to the kitchen where he saw you running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.
When you heard him approaching, you quickly gestured him to sit at the table and said, "Stay there, I have one more thing to give you before you go."
You then ran to your room and started searching literally everything. After a few minutes, the Mandalorian heard a "Bingo!", then watched as you made your way back to the kitchen.
"So, I actually have two things for you, and I'm not sure if they go against your code or not because they have sentimental value or... anyway, here's the first one."
You placed a silver chain into the Mandalorian's outstretched palm. The chain was thin, but that wasn't what caught his attention. Oh no, what caught his attention was the piece of metal dangling from the end of it.
The bounty hunter brought it up closer to his face to examine the metal. He read the inscription 'To my everything", and looked up at you.
"It was my Grandma's. My Grandpa gave it to her, and she gave it to me. I wanted to give it to you as my last thank you for your help."
"You really should keep this, I didn't even do much-"
"I also have this for your ship. This was my uncle's, but I've never had a very good use for it. He and his friend had a matching set."
On the table you placed a gold chain with a golden die attached to each end. "I'm hoping it'll bring you good luck with all your travels. My uncle said he and his friend found two of them on Corellia before they escaped, and they headed separate ways. Said it helped his friend do the Kessel Run in... I believe 12 parsecs."
The Mandalorian took both gifts from you and placed them back into your palm. "I'm not taking these."
You raised a brow. "Right," you said as you put them into an empty pocket in his belt. "I'll help you to your speeder."
You both walked out to the speeder. Luckily, for the Mandalorian, his bounty was still knocked out in the storage compartment, probably from the heat.
The bounty hunter climbed on and started up the speeder. You came up beside him, making him look up at you.
"Safe travels, Lumpy. Maybe I'll see you again some other day."
The Mandalorian nodded. Oh, how he hated to leave you. He really wanted to stay. To just hang up his mask for good and be here with you. Or take you some place much nicer where you wouldn't have to live in poverty.
How he wishes he could take you away and free you from this awful place.
But he knows he can't.
"See you around."
You smiled once more. "Bye, Lumpy." And with that, the Mandalorian was off.
-----
The bounty hunter had made it to his ship in roughly 10 minutes, and instantly set to work. The faster he got off this planet, the faster he could start to forget you. If he could start to forget you.
He grabbed his bounty from the storage compartment, brought him onto the ship, tied his arms behind his back and tied his legs together. He then tied his arms and legs to a pole at the back of his ship (in a probably painful way).
He woke up his bounty by throwing cold water on his face, and left whatever was in the bowl in front of the target's face so he could drink the leftovers.
Once he was satisfied the assignment was not going anywhere, as he was too weak and desperate for the water at the moment, the Mandalorian went to his room to quickly take off his chest armour and clip the necklace you gave him, and put the armour back on. He then moved to the cockpit of his ship and sat down.
He took out the dice and hung them from a small hook on the top window frames of his cockpit, and sighed.
As he started up the ship, the bounty hunter heard a very loud noise, and felt his ship start to tremble. He looked up through his windshield and have a horrified gasp. An entire Imperial Star Destroyer was aiming to hover right above your little town.
Now, normally the bounty hunter wouldn't care. As long as he stayed out of their way, they would stay out of his. But, now? You were there. And he knew exactly what was going to happen.
The Stormtroopers were going to attack your home again, and this time you were not far enough away to save yourself.
The Mandalorian didn't even think as he quickly grabbed his weapon, made sure that the bounty was not going anywhere, jumped in his speeder and sped straight to your home.
Your Grandma's words rang through his ears. "Protect her," and, "You'll know."
He didn't know how but she knew that they were coming, and he had to get you out of there. Now.
Speeding up his land speeder to the maximum, he almost made it to the front of your door in time. Almost.
There were explosions coming from many homes. Fire was everywhere, and it didn't do anything to help with the heat of the planet you were on.
The Mandalorian could see your house, and watched as 2 Stormtroopers came out of your home. One of them carrying your Grandma, the other pushing you towards the centre circle where they were gathering everyone from the town.
He was so close, just 60 seconds away.
He could hear you desperately screaming "Please, just don't hurt my Grandma. Do whatever you want with me, just leave her alone." He could see your face was wet with tears from your eyes and blood from your temple where someone hit you in the head.
The Stormtroopers ignored you as they brought you both to the middle. The one carrying your Grandma threw her onto the ground, and the other pushed you so hard you fell face first into the sand. A third one came up and made you both kneel.
The Mandalorian was now only 30 seconds away, and he was furious. He stopped the speeder right before the town's entrance because he didn't want anyone to hear him coming.
The Stormtroopers made a circle around everyone with their guns pointed towards all of the innocent townspeople.
The bounty hunter ran behind the building that was closest to you and your Grandma, and was quickly trying to think of his next move. He could get one of you out for certain. He wasn't so sure about the both of you.
At that moment, your Grandma had caught sight of him and made eye contact with him beneath the mask. When she slowly nodded and gave a sad smile, the Mandalorian knew exactly what she wanted him to do. So that's what he did.
Once he heard the Commander say "Fire on three," the bounty hunter prepared himself.
"One," he waited.
"Two," he started sprinting as silently as he could. He hadn't caught the attention of anyone yet because of all the frightened gasps of the people.
"Three. Fire!"
The Mandalorian quickly jumped in front of your screaming body, covering you as much as he could from the gunshots.
Though he was covering your front, one had managed to get you from behind and hit you in your shoulder. As you whimpered pain, the bounty hunter quickly scooped you up and started running towards his speeder.
"Wait, what about my Grandma? You can't leave her, please, go back!"
You were sobbing, and it broke the Mandalorian's heart for the first time in a long time. But he had to get you out of here. And he had to do it now.
He cradled your bleeding body as close to him as he possibly could to keep as much of you protected, and made a mad dash towards his speeder. Many of the clones had noticed him trying to escape, and were now either firing at him or chasing him.
He jumped on to his speeder and zoomed away, still keeping your body tucked in to his to protect you from any of the blaster fire. Luckily the Stormtroopers have their horrible aim, so the bounty hunter was able to get you to his ship without any more injuries.
After a few minutes the shots being fired at him were ceased because the Mandalorian was much too far away now, but he wasn't taking any chances. He tried to help you get more comfortable in his lap but it was very hard to with your wound.
As soon as he came up to his ship the bounty hunter slowed it down and drove it up the ramp. He then turned it off and very carefully lifted you out of the speeder. You had passed out, but the Mandalorian was not surprised. You had a lot of blood loss, you were in a lot of pain, you just watched your Grandma die, and you had been crying quite a bit. It made the Mandalorian's heart rip into shreds.
He quickly brought you to his room and set you down on your stomach on his bed. He didn't want to leave your side, but he knew he had to for the moment for very obvious reasons.
After looking back at you one last time, the Mandalorian first went to make sure his bounty was still there. He was, and also passed out. Next he went to the cockpit of his ship. He knew if he were to get you out of here alive he had to do it now before the Empire went searching.
The bounty hunter wasn't too worried about being followed though, because in their eyes it was just a poor little girl that escaped, and she can't do them any harm.
He quickly closed the ramp and the bay doors, then started up the ship. After getting off the planet, he immediately went into hyperspace to get to Coruscant. He wanted to get his bounty off the ship ASAP because he did not want the two of you to be in the same room ever again.
After making sure that the autopilot was set, the Mandalorian made his way to his room where you were sleeping. He first made a stop to his little bathroom area and grabbed some cloths, towels, a bowl that he filled with water, and some antibiotics.
He walked into his room with the supplies and knelt on the floor beside you. The bounty hunter also grabbed a small knife that he used to cut the clothes around your burn to make it easier to clean. He would like to change you out of the stinky and dirty clothes you were in now to make you more comfortable, but you had very much respected his privacy back in your home, so it was only right he did the same.
He dipped one of the cloths into the bowl of water and gently started cleaning your wound. You hissed a bit in your sleep, but it seemed that the pain wasn't too bad; which was a good sign. It meant that he could properly clean the blood.
It took him almost half an hour to get the entire wound completely cleaned, but it was worth it. Your face had started to relax, and you seemed to become more peaceful. The Mandalorian studied you for a few minutes; it seemed the longer he looked the more intrigued he became.
He followed the soft wrinkles in your forehead from stress to the bags under your eyes, then down the bridge of your nose to your delicate cheeks and lips. He traced the soft curves of your jawline with his eyes and made his way down your neck. Before he could control himself the Mandalorian found himself gently caressing the exposed and healthy skin on your back.
How he longed to take off the mask and armour so he could touch you with his bare hands, hold you in his arms and never let you go. He had never hated his armour more than he did in that moment.
But he had a feeling that the galaxy still needed him to be a bounty hunter, a Mandalorian, so he quietly applied some healing cream and a bandage on your wound and left you to sleep.
As he sat in the cockpit, the Mandalorian thought of you, and wondered what the hell he was going to do now.
Warnings: Mild violence, mild sexual harassment but nothing too detailed, cringey writing, sickening amounts of fluff at times.
It was many years before the Mandalorian was given the mission to find the Child that he met Y/N. And what a day that was. A day that he could never, ever forget.
His bounty was a dangerous thief and murderer hiding out on the planet of Tatooine. This was going to be a breeze for the Mandalorian. He had fought enemies twice as big for pay half of what he was offered. But this was a lot of money, and he needed it.
He was walking through town on his way to the Cantina when he saw a beautiful woman on the side of the street. She looked to be washing the sand out of some clothes while talking to an elderly woman doing the same thing.
She had the most beautiful smile the Mandalorian had ever seen upon anyone's face. Her eyes were sparkling brighter than any star to exist, despite the poor life she seemed to be living. Her clothes were old rags that were falling apart in many places, there was dirt covering her hands and face, her soft hair was half done up in a braid, the bottom half flowing behind her, and her voice. My god, her voice. She laughed at something the other woman said, and he swears, he died right there.
But he had a mission to do, and he couldn't think about her. He shook his head and walked towards the Cantina, and instantly saw his target. The criminal was a Twi'lek with purple skin and yellow eyes (a disadvantage for the target, major advantage for anyone trying to find him). The Twi'lek was obviously trying to hide beneath a cloak, but with these extreme temperatures it made it very difficult to do so.
The Mandalorian took a full sweep of the room. There were no other bounty hunters in sight, meaning he did not have to act quickly. He went to sit at one of the empty tables to keep an eye on the target until he left; the bounty hunter did not want to make a scene if he did not have to.
So, he took a seat in the back and told the waitress that he didn't want anything. That's when everything went to hell. The beautiful girl he saw before walked in and went behind the bar. Clearly she works many jobs to get enough money for something.
The girl put on an apron and picked up a tray. He saw his waitress from before leave, meaning this woman was going to be taking over serving him. She walked over, smiling very softly.
"Can I get you anything?" This girl knew that the man sitting before her was a Mandalorian, and he would not order anything because he can't take off his helmet. But, it was her job, so. Whatever.
The bounty hunter looked up at her face and felt his heart stop. Oh god. If he thought that she was beautiful from afar, she really did look like a goddess up close. He could make out some more features of her face, and he swears he fell in love with every single one of them.
But what the hell. This has never happened before. What the hell. He's been to plenty of clubs all over the galaxy for his work. He's seen women bathed head to toe in gold, practically drowning in diamonds, radiating their bodies and beauty. But he never thought about any of them. How could he, though, it's not like he could do anything with them.
But this woman? She spoke one sentence to him and he was hers. Just like that. If she asked him to jump off a bridge he would. If she asked him to fight a thousand rancors he would. If she asked him to take off his helmet... he probably would. For her. Cause then he could be with her. Oh my god, shut up. What the hell was he thinking? He's got a job to do, and plenty more after this one. There's no time for that.
"No thanks."
She nodded, and gave another gentle smile. "Let me know if you change your mind."
He gave her a curt nod of is head and went back to looking at his target, for he knew if he didn't he'd ask for something he would come to quickly regret.
She walked away towards another table, and the Mandalorian couldn't help but look back to admire the shape of her body. He quickly deduced that she was way too skinny due to starving on this planet, but he still could only find one word to describe it. Perfect.
He looked back to his assignment. He hadn't moved, just continued to drink his drink. It was about 20 minutes later that his problem escalated more. You see, the truth is that the Mandalorian was barely looking at his target at all. The truth is that he couldn't keep his eyes off the woman. She was just so positive and graceful with her movements. And clearly, he wasn't the only one thinking these thoughts.
It just so happened to be the target himself who wanted to woo the girl as well. And there was no way the bounty hunter was going to let that happen. The girl smiled as she placed another drink in front of the purple alien, but the Twi'lek had other ideas. He reached out and grabbed the girl's wrist, pulled her ear towards his mouth, and the Mandalorian clenched his fists so tightly together he thought his armour was going to break.
"You look good enough to eat, sweetheart. Why don't you get out of here with me. I'll show you a good time."
The girl tried to escape his hold as she responded, "I'm flattered, but no thank you. Now please let me go."
"Not gonna happen sweetheart." And he started to bite on her ear.
She was now desperately trying to yank her arm away. She even dropped her tray and swung a mean right hook to the Twi'lek's jaw with her free arm, but he wouldn't let loose.
With his heightened hearing in his helmet, the bounty hunter heard every word that was spoken, and was having none of it.
Though he felt an immense sense of pride that she managed to get a good hit in, he knew she couldn't win this fight; this was a murderer after all.
He made is way over in less than 4 steps and ripped the guy's hand off the girl's arm, and stood between them, protectively keeping the girl behind his back while he towered over the target.
He then grabbed the Twi'lek by the collar of his cloak and brought him up to his face.
"You're lucky the bounty is much better for you alive rather than dead. Touch her one more time and you will be a dead man. I wouldn't keep you alive for all the money in the galaxy."
He then grabbed the Twi'lek's arm and dragged him out of the Cantina all the way to his speed racer, punched him so he was knocked out, and tied him up 6 different ways so the target couldn't get away.
After tying up the now prisoner, the Mandalorian stood up and walked back to the Cantina. He spotted the girl wiping up a table, and instantly noticed the bruises forming on her wrists.
He walked up to her, and found his heart melting when she saw him and smiled.
"Are you alright?" he asked her.
She nodded and smiled again. "All thanks to you."
He shrugged and shook his head. "He was my target anyway."
"Still. You saved me, and for that I thank you. Is there any way I can repay you?"
He shook his head once more. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Please. Let me take you back you my place. It's not much, but there's supposed to be a sandstorm tonight, and those can get very serious. Please."
The bounty hunter contemplated. He knew his ship was quite a distance away; he didn't want his ship to get recognized by other bounty hunters and steal his catch. He also knew that if the sandstorm the girl was talking about did happen, the prisoner would more than likely die. And he needed the money.
He looked down at the girl.
"Alright."
Her smile seemed to grow 10 times at that one simple word.
"Perfect. I get off in about 15 minutes. Can you wait that long?"
The Mandalorian smiled under the mask. "If I have to."
The girl giggled as she walked away towards her last few customers.
When the 15 minutes were up, the girl turned the lights out and locked up the doors. They then walked in a comfortable silence towards, first his speeder, then her home.
After tying up a gag around the prisoners mouth, a blindfold around his eyes, and punching the guy one more time when the girl wasn't looking to make sure he would stay knocked out, he stuffed the guy into the storage compartment of his speeder and turned to face her.
The winds were already picking up outside, and he knew the girl was right about the storm.
After a few seconds of staring at each other, the Mandalorian spoke up.
"What's your name?"
The girl smiled once again. "Y/N."
And with that, she turned around and entered her home, with the Mandalorian trailing closely behind her.
"... and the Mandalorian swooped in and saved the day!" you beamed as you swung the kid above your head, making it giggle both at the ride and the ship noises you were making.
Said Mandalorian was walking a few paces ahead of the you, half listening to the stories you were telling the Child about the two of you over the years and half looking out for any threats, especially since you now had a very valuable target on your hands.
He was wary; speaking from plenty of experience, anything could happen at anytime.
The more he thought about the threats that could happen, the more he thought about protecting you, and now the kid.
There was no denying that you and the kid have already become best friends. Or, even more so, like mother and child. It was obvious in the first 30 seconds of meeting the baby you would be a great mother, and it was proved the longer he observed your interactions with each other. You'd be strong and stern, yet tender and kind and loving and gentle and really, really, really...
He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and continued forward, the egg thingy floating behind him and you trailing a few paces back.
The bounty hunter was doing his best to walk the three of you back to the ship, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.
Mud was sticking to his shoes and was beginning to crawl its way up his legs. He had to turn around and catch you twice from some particularly slippery patches.
It didn't seem to phase you though, since he heard you pointing out the little lizards you saw and kept your smile on at all times. You had asked if it was okay for you to carry the Child, to which he answered of course, but he still brought the... carriage?... just in case.
"Now, let me tell you about an even better superhero than the Mandalorian. I know what you're thinking! Y/n, how could there be someone even better than the Mandalorian, he sounds like such a great guy. And I would say well, he is, but sometimes he can get grumpy (especially when he's hungry), and nobody likes a grumpy man, oh no. But this superhero is the most courageous, brave, beautiful, strong, smart, and funny person, and she goes by the name of-"
The Mandalorian furrowed his eyebrows and slowed to a stop as he heard the sound of something new, though he couldn't quite place it. "Y/N," he called hesitantly to you. It sounded like footsteps.
He heard you stop abruptly, both in walking and your story. "Are you serious?" you asked. "I just told like 6 stories about you, don't I get a turn-"
"Y/N," he called a bit louder this time and waved you over. He placed his hand on his gun and looked around while he waited for you to catch up. Right now you were surrounded by tall rocks besides the path in front and behind you. You were standing in the shade because the sun was blocked out by the tall cliffs, but the heat was still intense as he could see some sweat dripping off your forehead.
As you came and stood next to him the Mandalorian whispered, "Keep the kid close." He could see you nod in his peripherals, staying silent because he knew you could hear it too: the sound of movement of something much bigger than those lizards.
The bounty hunter instinctually put his left arm in front of you while the other gripped the gun. It was silent, save for the wind blowing in your faces and your heavy breathing in anticipation. To his right he noticed a shadow move quickly, making him look left to find the source.
All of a sudden a Trandoshan, an alien with orange-brown scaly skin and four short horns on the crown of it's head, jumped towards the Mandalorian, swinging it's vibro-axe and attacking the bounty hunter.
"Get back," he grunted in your direction as he quickly pushed the carriage away and turned to try and shoot his attacker, but he wasn't quick enough.
The Trandoshan knocked the blaster out of his hand and swung it's axe straight for the bounty hunter, so he swiftly shot his head back and blocked the repeated hits with his wrist guards.
On the fourth swing the Mandalorian caught the axe and began wrestling the alien for it. The Trandoshan tried to punch him in the head but that failed when the bounty hunter deflected it with one arm and twisted the axe with the other, effectively making the attacker lose his balance and flip onto the ground.
Just as the bounty hunter was about to stab the opponent, another of it's kind came from nowhere and thrust it's own axe out, blocking the Mandalorian from his actions and tangling the two axes together.
The second Trandoshan freed his axe and swung again, crippling the blade of the bounty hunter's axe causing him to throw it to the side, rendering it useless. Panting, the Mandalorian ducked under another swing of the axe before taking out his Amban Rifle and using it to combat his foe.
First he waved the rifle above his head an maneuvered it to be in front of him, turning on the electricity and shocking the scaled enemy till it was dead. He groaned as the Trandoshan he knocked down earlier used the broken axe to cut deeply into his left arm, but the bounty hunter quickly turned to face the surprise attacker and smacked it's head with the razor sharp edge of the rifle.
With both of his opponents on the ground he whipped his head around to find you in your own mess, a third Trandoshan standing behind you with his arm around your neck. He ran over as fast as he could, watching as you elbowed the alien in the stomach and slithered out of its grip, then kicked its legs so hard the scaly alien fell back and hit its head on the ground.
The Mandalorian aimed his rifle at the Trandoshan's head and as soon as he could see you crouching and covering your own, he shot the alien and watched as it disintegrated into ashes.
With heavy breathing coming from the both of you the bounty hunter held his hand out to you, gently helping you stand up. He looked to his left and was relieved to see you had put the kid in the floating egg, and it was just sitting there cooing at the two of you.
That was when he heard what sounded like beeping, causing the both of you to look to your right and see a tracking fob sitting in the mud. You quickly rushed over to it and picked up a rock, smashing the fob into tiny pieces.
"Does this mean they're always going to be onto us?" you panted, looking to the Mandalorian for some answers. He slowly nodded his head and looked at the kid, now realizing just how dangerous this situation was going to be.
---
It was beginning to get dark out, so the bounty hunter offered to rest for a while which you didn't hesitate to agree upon.
He was sitting next to the small oil lamp you had turned on, grunting in pain as you sat next to him and tended to the wound on his arm.
He did his best to focus on anything but his arm, opting on your features and humming as you continuously shocked the wound with the very small taser. He had to admit, the distraction was working quite well.
Your hair had fallen out of it's ponytail long ago, leaving it to cascade down your back and occasionally fall into your eyes. There was a small crease between your eyebrows as you concentrated on the task at hand, and your skin had strange reflections dancing across it from the glow of the lamp.
You had stopped for a moment to look down at something, and the Mandalorian was about to ask you what was wrong before he saw it too. The kid had somehow managed to climb out of the carriage and walk it's way over to you, trying to climb up onto your leg.
Giggling at it you gently picked it up and brought it back over to the egg, carefully putting it back inside. "I have to go help Lumpy for a few more minutes," you whispered in its direction, wrapping the blankets around its tiny body. "So I need you to wait in here. Okay?"
The baby only cooed back and grabbed onto the finger you were using to caress its face. The Mandalorian watched as you smiled brightly and gave it one of your leather wrist bands to inspect and hopefully grab its attention enough to keep it out of trouble.
He saw you nod in satisfaction that the kid was preoccupied with the intricate designs of the wrist band before you turned back to the bounty hunter's arm, picking up the taser and beginning again.
This went on for a few more minutes, you shocking the wound in an attempt to close it while humming, the baby turning the piece of fabric in his hands over and over again in complete and utter fascination, and the bounty hunter wondering how the hell you were managing to make him fall even more in love with you after all this time. It truly wasn't fair.
As he watched you with a silent admiration behind his mask, he couldn't help but get lost in his thoughts. The Mandalorian loved and hated the mask for many reasons when it came to you. He loved it because it allowed him to be able to memorize your features without you even noticing, but he hated it because he wasn't able to do anything about it.
How much longer was he supposed to go on with this stupid game of pretending like everything was okay? Because, at least in his mind, it most certainly was not. He just wanted to be able to hold you and love you and never ever let you go, but some stupid gut feeling told him that now was not the time. Not yet.
He's never hated his gut feeling more. It hasn't let him down yet, though, so that means he's sticking to it. The worst part about it is that this is the one time he can't even ask you for your opinion, your help and view of the situation, which has guided him in the right direction countless times.
It's all so messed up, but the bounty hunter's hoping that soon he'll be able to work up the courage to at least tell you something. Anything.
His thoughts got cut off by you talking to him with a very gentle tone as you started to wrap the wound on his arm.
"I think I closed your cut as far as it can go, but I'll still have to wrap it so it won't get infected. Even though it's extremely useless for me to say this you're gonna have to try and ease up a bit on that arm, just for a day or two to help it heal. However, it seems like with our luck right now that isn't going to happen," you sighed, beginning to clean up all of the supplies.
"Thank you for helping me," he grunted out, biting his lip to stop him from crying out in pain as he picked up his broken chest plate and began shocking that as well in hopes of bringing the pieces of metal back together.
He flicked some sort of switch and an orange light came on, effectively making the author question what the hell was going on.
The bounty hunter was interrupted by your gasp and quickly whipped his head up, watching you put your hand over your heart. He was about to ask what was wrong before he saw you pick up the kid from beside you place him in your lap.
"You almost gave me a heart attack, how did you get out of the carriage again?"
The Child only replied by giggling and waving your leather wrist band above its head, making you chuckle as well. "Yes, that is pretty interesting isn't it?"
You laughed again when you gave it the second bracelet, watching as the baby gasped and slowly reached out for the second one. It held one in each hand and looked back and forth between them, not sure what it was supposed to do with two wrist bands.
The Mandalorian continued tinkering with the machine while he faintly heard you talking to the kid. When he was finished he glanced up to see the you lying on the ground with your eyes closed and the kid snuggled up into your arms, both of your breathing patterns slow and even.
He sighed as he grabbed the blanket from inside the carriage and opened it, shook it out and then laid it on top of you before putting out the lamp and attempting to get comfortable on the rocks as well.
He didn't go to sleep, even though he wouldn't tell you that, and chose to stay on look out in case something were to attack again.
---
It was bright and early on the next day when the three of you walked over a ridge with the sun slowly rising behind you. The Mandalorian could tell you didn't get enough sleep because you kept rubbing your eyes and yawning, but he knew time was slim ever since the kid was around, meaning you had to keep moving.
He wasn't sure how much longer you walked when you reached the ship, but he did know it was about mid-day because the sun was high in the sky by now. He wasn't paying too much attention to the sun, though, because a situation much more pressing presented itself and now he was fuming.
He had walked days upon days in the desert only to come back and find out that some stupid Jawas thought they could rip his ship into pieces and steal whatever they wanted. Well, not on his watch, that's for damn sure.
Before he could wait for you to catch up the Mandalorian took full advantage of his position on the higher ground and took out his rifle, quickly aiming and shooting at one of the Jawas stealing his things. He then reloaded his rifle and aimed at another one, not thinking about the consequences it may hold later.
As he began reloading for the third shot you kneeled down in front of him and placed your hands on either side of his helmet.
"What the hell are you doing?" you screamed, looking at him with wild eyes.
"What do you mean what am I doing," he yelled back, just as exasperated. "They've just torn a part the entire ship!"
"We can get it back, but it's not going to be easy now that you've killed some of them-" your arguing was cut off by the Jawa's Sandcrawler starting up and beginning to drive away.
"Y/N we've got to get our stuff back!" He didn't wait for your response as he bolted for the Sandcrawler, running at full speed. When he got closer the bounty hunter knelt on one knee and aimed for a main power source to the vehicle, firing as quickly as he could. It slowed down the Sandcrawler but not enough to stop it, making the Mandalorian sigh as he got back up to chase it again.
Once he got right beside the massive machine he jumped to his left and grabbed onto the droid chute, using his arms to pull his body up to reach the ladder. He gripped the first rung of the ladder with one hand and swung his other over, then stopped for a minute to take a breath.
With legs dangling the bounty hunter did his best to pull himself up, using the momentum of the Sandcrawler. The second his leg reached the first rung of the ladder the Mandalorian began climbing it, not hear your screaming for him to stop and think for a second.
Grunting from the pain in his arm because of the gash (he rolled his eyes internally as he realized you were correct in the situation not letting him take it easy), he continued to pull himself up the ladder. Just as his hands reached the top rung, he felt the Sandcrawler turn to the right, making him look to the right as well.
That's when he noticed what the Jawas were doing; there was a large piece of rock sticking out from a wall, and they were going to try knocking him off with it. Luckily he was at the top of the ladder, meaning he could quickly lay down on his side on the small ledge and avoid the jutting out rock.
He did just this, with seconds to spare.
After a big breath of relief the Mandalorian looked up only to see the Jawas were throwing spare parts down the side of their Sandcrawler in an attempt to knock him off, but this failed when he grabbed onto the ladder again for support.
The bounty hunter climbed back onto the ledge and stood up, back leaning against the outside of the vehicle, looking all around while thinking of what to do next. The Jawas were above and throwing more things at him, and you were to his right running at a slower pace behind the baby carriage, but he knew that you knew as long as you could see the massive tin can you'd be fine.
Glancing to his left the Mandalorian noticed that there were pieces of metal sticking out of the exterior wall of the Sandcrawler and immediately began climbing them, determined to get his ship pieces back.
He climbed about half the height of the wall when a Jawa opened a window just above him, making him reach for the ledge as extra support than the tiny pieces of metal sticking out.
This did not work in his favour, however, because the Jawa then shut the lid of the window on his fingers so hard the bounty hunter had to pull back immediately, his feet slipping too. This lead to him hanging on for dear life by just his right hand, and he could hear you scream his name as he almost fell off the Sandcrawler.
Grunting from the exertion the Mandalorian rolled his eyes at his own stupidity before launching his whipcord thrower at the large canon resting on the roof of the vehicle. Once the line wrapped around the gun and was stable enough to support his weight the bounty hunter then placed both feet on the side of the Sandcrawler and began slowly walking up.
The Jawa's continued to throw miscellaneous items at him but the bounty hunter's grip on the cord was stronger, and he slowly pulled himself up the huge machine. Debris kept falling in his face but it was really only starting to annoy him and made him want to push further even more.
For good measure he grabbed one of the Jawas poking its head out of a window and tossed it behind him, not really paying attention to its scream as it fell to its death.
Even though he couldn't make out the exact words you were saying the Mandalorian could hear in your tone that you were scolding him greatly for what he just did, and he instantly felt a bit bad. A bit.
The Jawas then began hitting the cord with the tips of their weapons, causing the rope to slack and give him away a bit, but it held and the Mandalorian climbed the whole way up, reaching the top and throwing another Jawa off the Sandcrawler.
He then placed both arms on the lip of the floor and heaved his way up, then quickly got to his feet and drew his gun.
As soon as he stood up to full height, though, the Mandalorian knew that this was a big mistake. He was extremely outnumbered with at least 20 Jawas all aiming their own ion blaster at him. Each and every single one was fired, making his body go stiff for a second, then convulse, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. The last thing he felt being the sensation of falling to the sound of your screams of anguish.
---
You watched with horror as the Mandalorian got shot at multiple times by an ion blaster and fell back off of the Sandcrawler, hitting the ground so hard you cringed, then went limp.
"LUMPY!" you screamed, running at full speed to get to his body and ignoring the tears that started streaming down your face.
You knelt down beside him as soon as you could, shaking his shoulders and his head, sobbing.
"Lumpy, get up, please, it's okay," you sniffled, feeling around where you could for any injuries. "Come back to me!"
You glanced up to see the Sandcrawler slowly moving forward with the Jawas standing on top and laughing at you, making you feel quite angry at their rude behaviour.
"You get back here right now and help him," you yelled at them. "I know for a fact that it is not the Jawa way to-"
You were cut off by a shot from one of the short creatures by its ion blaster hitting you directly in the chest, making you convulse the same way the Mandalorian did and fall back next to him, shaking uncontrollably. You watched the world go black as your eyes rolled to the back of your head and your throat began to close from the electric shock, making it hard to breathe.
The last thing you remember is hearing the Jawa's tedious laughter, and the throbbing of your head from the lack of oxygen.
---
The Mandalorian shot his eyes open and groaned as he sat up, taking in his surroundings. To his right he noticed the tracks of the Sandcrawler belonging to the thieving Jawas continue to further than the eye could see, the machine long gone in the time he was passed out.
To his left he saw you lying beside him and immediately crawled over your body, quickly becoming desperate as he shook your body and called your name.
"Y/N, hey open your eyes for me, come on now," he pleaded. The bounty hunter could see your chest slowly rising and falling, encouraging him to continue his attempts at waking you up.
"Come on, sweetheart, you know I can't do this without you. Y/N, come on, you gotta wake up," he ignored the light shaking of desperation in his voice as he pressed on, determined to wake you up.
He breathed a sigh a of relief as you opened your eyes just as suddenly as he did and sat up, scanning everywhere with wild eyes as your breathing picked up instantly. Sensing your panic he brought your face to his, making you look at him directly.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm right here," he stated firmly, trying to make you understand. "You're safe, it's okay, I've got you." At hearing these words your body seemed to deflate into his, and he let you rest your head on his shoulder as you cried, hugging you and rocking you slowly back and forth.
"I thought you were dead," you whispered, making him glance down at you quickly.
"I'm not, I'm right here," he vowed, tightening his grip just a bit.
"You know," you sniffled, rubbing your cheeks to rid of the tears but keeping your head buried in his shoulder. "You can be really stupid sometimes."
This made the Mandalorian laugh through his nose and nod his head, agreeing with your statement. "Yeah, I know."
Together the two of you looked at the kid and its cute little frown, and then back at each other. The bounty hunter placed his hands on your hips and helped you up, saying, "Let's head back to the ship, then we can make our next move."
With your nod of confirmation the three of you headed back, dreading the information of just how bad the ship's condition was in.
---
The closer he got to the ship the more angry the bounty hunter seemed to get. The Jawas had literally left nothing behind, taking even the smallest things, including the panels of the outside walls of the ship.
He walked inside and went straight for the weapon's closet, slamming them shut in anger when he saw that it was completely empty. He then climbed up to the cockpit to see you sitting in the pilot's seat, flipping switches and pushing buttons to see just how many things weren't working.
The Mandalorian glanced back at the left engine to only to see black smoke puffing out of it, then looked to the right one to see it met the same fate. He heard you sigh and turned to face you, waiting to hear your news.
"We're completely offline," you stated, crossing your arms and looking around. "It's the Jawa nature to steal anything even remotely useful, and that's what they did." You heaved a big sigh before continuing. "What do you think we should do?"
Before he could reply the both of you heard a cooing noise and turned to face it. The Mandalorian saw the kid walking slowly up the ramp with it's tiny legs, reaching it's hand out towards you.
This made you put a on a bright smile and run to go pick it up, spinning it around to make the Child giggle. The bounty hunter couldn't help but smile softly at what was going on in front of him, observing as you then placed the Child on your hip. Despite the circumstance, he realized that he was indeed very lucky to not be doing it alone.
"Should we go ask the Ugnaught for help?" you suggested as you rocked the kid back and forth in your arms.
The Mandalorian sighed and slumped over, looking at the ground. "I don't think we have a choice," he replied in a very defeated tone.
"Well then," you perked up as you tickled the baby on its stomach, walking down the ramp and in a random direction. "We better get moving."
"Y/N," he called, laughing a bit through his nose as you continued your trek.
"Yeah?"
"He lives that way," the bounty hunter smirked, pointing in the complete opposite direction of where you were going. He watched with amusement as you slyly turned yourself around and began walking in that direction, stating,
"I knew that, I was just testing to make sure you knew that too."
The Mandalorian rolled his eyes at that statement and began following you, not realizing how glad he was to have you in such a situation like this.
---
After at least another day of walking tirelessly through the desert, the three of you came upon the moisture farm of the alien that helped you a few days prior.
It was getting close to nighttime and the bounty hunter could tell that you were starting to get cold, but kept quiet because he knew his arguing would work to no avail.
Together you walked up to the shorter man who was up on his radio tower, fixing something at the very top.
"I thought you were dead," the Ugnaught deadpanned as he continued with his task, not bothering to even look down to see who approached him.
The both of you stayed silent as he stepped down the ladder and looked at the baby that you had set down on the ground. "This is what was causing all the fuss?" he asked, confusion lacing his tone.
"We think it's a child," the Mandalorian stated, pressing buttons on his wrist as he spoke.
You whipped your head around to face him and gave him a dumbfounded look. "You don't say," you expressed in a mocking tone, pointing to the baby that was preoccupied following a frog.
The Mandalorian stuck his tongue out at you even though you couldn't see and continued on. "Our ship has been destroyed," he explained. "We're trapped here."
"Stripped, not destroyed," the Ugnaught corrected as he grabbed another tool. "The Jawas steal, they don't destroy."
"Stolen or destroyed, it makes no difference to me," the bounty hunter replied as he accepted the small device offered to fix his wrist control panel. You walked over and ripped the tool from his hands, giving him a glare at his tone and set to work on fixing the panel.
He ignored it and continued on. "They're protected by their crawling fortress, meaning there's no way to recover the parts."
"You can trade," the Ugnaught countered, looking directly at the bounty hunter.
"With Jawas?" he exclaimed in a very unconvinced tone. "Are you out of your mind?"
The bounty hunter yelped as he felt a small shock in his forearm, and looked down to see your smirking face. "It's not a bad idea, Lumpy. I used to do it all the time with my Grandma."
The shorter alien nodded. "I will take you to them."
The Mandalorian sighed as he knew he had no choice but to comply.
"I have spoken."
Together the three of you turned around to look at the kid, and watched as it put a frog in its mouth.
"Hey," scolded to Mandalorian. "Spit that out." He then rolled his eyes as the baby instead ignored his words ate the frog whole, turning to see the look of laughter on your face.
You then looked up at him and shrugged, knowing he was giving you a look of question. "You gotta eat what you gotta eat, and that is clearly what he wants to eat."
"Why do you have to say it in such a weird way?"
"Am I wrong?"
"... No."
You shrugged again and then went over to the baby, picked him up and sat him on your shoulders as you walked back to the Ugnaught's small home.
The Mandalorian mumbled under his breath as he followed you, shaking his head and contemplating many of his life choices.
---
After a very long and rainy ride in the trolley attached to the blurrg, you arrived at the campsite of the Jawas.
The Mandalorian jumped off and held his hand out for you, keeping a wary eye out for the stupid tiny aliens that tore apart his whole ship.
He held his gun out in the other, the Jawa's attention on him not going unnoticed.
"They really don't like you," observed the Ugnaught.
The Mandalorian watched you roll your eyes as you responded, "Yeah, well he did disintegrate a few of them."
"You need to drop your rifle," the shorter man said.
The bounty hunter shook his head. "I'm a Mandalorian. Weapons are part of my religion."
"Then you are not getting your parts back," the Ugnaught deadpanned, and the Mandalorian glared your giggle.
He sighed, and relctantly gave in. "Fine."
"And the blaster." The Ugnaught then turned around in greetings of the Jawas. "Good day!" he shouted in Jawaese, raising his hands above his head. As the shorter man continued his conversation with the thieves, the bounty hunter turned to face you.
He watched as you placed the Child on your head and cooed at its giggles, then walked up to you and booped the baby's nose. The kid laughed much louder than expected from such a tiny body, making the Mandalorian smile and look down to see you doing the same.
"Stay here," he whispered. He pinched your elbow lightly to make you laugh then spun around and went to meet the Jawas and get his parts back. He went and sat down beside the shorter man, awaiting what was to be said.
"They will trade all the parts for the beskar," the Ugnaught translated.
"What? I'm not gonna trade anything. These are my parts," the Mandalorian shot back, ignoring the holes you were burning into his skull with your glare. "They stole them from me."
He then tried to speak back in their language, doing his best to remember some of the words you taught him last night. "They, they... belong... to me!" He said in a frustrated tone, trying to get his point across to the poopyhead Jawas.
The smaller aliens then began laughing at him, teasing him for butchering the pronunciation of their language.
"You speak terrible Jawa," their leader(?) criticized. "You sound like a Wookiee." he said in a sarcastic tone, putting his hand up to his ear in mock confusion. The bounty hunter was becoming increasingly outraged, and missed the way you quickly put the baby down and started rushing to his side.
"Do you understand this?" he asked in a very bitter tone, lighting the fire from his wrist straight towards the leader before it quickly got put down by your hand.
"Stop it!" you frowned, giving him an angry scowl that made the Mandalorian look down in shame before turning around and blocking him from view.
"Please, please, lower your weapons," you begged, placing one hand out protectively in front of your body. The bounty hunter watched at your careful approach and rebuked himself internally.
"Please forgive his aggressive behaviour, but he is a Mandalorian, he can not give up his armour. There must be something else we can trade."
The Jawa then pointed to something behind you, making all three of you look back.
"Get away from it!" the bounty hunter demanded, now becoming even more ticked off with the situation. He felt the slightest bit of relief when you stood up and collected the baby in your arms, then came back to sit beside him.
"Please, there must be something else," you begged, keeping the Child close to your body.
The Jawas then all turned to face each other and huddled together, disscussing what the Mandalorian assumed would be something he would be willing to trade.
When their decision was made, the leader then spun to face them, waving his hand in your faces.
"We will require The Egg," he demanded. "Bring us The Egg."
The bounty hunter furrowed his brows in confusion, and you looked at him with the same expression.
"The Egg? What egg?" he asked, the both of you turning to the Ugnaught in hopes of some answers.
The Jawas then began chanting "The Egg! The Egg!" making the bounty hunter what in the name of all living things could be so special about an egg.
"It seems they will take you there," the Ugnaught observed, noticing the the Jawas were boarding their Sandcrawler and waving for him to get on as well.
Letting his head fall for a minute, the Mandalorian sighed at how this all could have been avoided if these stupid Jawas were anywhere else on the planet and wouldn't have taken apart his ship.
He was brought out of his stupor by the feeling of a hand on his shoulder. The bounty hunter looked up to see you smiling gently at him, and he nodded. "Let's go."
He stood up and held his hand out for you, then brought the carriage to his side and followed you up the ramp into the massive vehicle.
---
It was at least another day's travel when the Mandalorian reached the entrance to a cave, toying around with the idea if he should actually go in there.
"Is there where the Jawas said it would be?" you asked as you walked up to stand beside him, furrowing your brows at the very vague information given.
"I think so," the bounty hunter nodded, feeling just as confused as you were.
"Well, let's go," you shrugged, taking a few steps towards the opening.
"Woah woah woah. What?"
"What do you mean, what? We need that egg, so let's go get it!" He groaned internally at your stubbornness. Why were you so determined to suddenly go on all of these expeditions? Why did he even agree to you coming along? He should have said no in the first place, but as per usual he caved and agreed to you coming along. But why were you suddenly so interested in running into the face of danger?
"Look at this place, you can't just go marching in! It's pitch black in there!"
"You have a light that sits on your head!"
"Yeah, it's enough for me but is it enough for you?"
"Well, do you have any other suggestions, cause I'm all ears!"
"Yeah, I go in, and you stay here."
"Oh, yeah because that's so much better!"
"Yes it is!"
"Why, because I won't be in your way and you can go do all the hero stuff while I sit back?"
What?
"No! Because I'm the one with all the armour, and this way if something happens at least I'm being protected!"
"Oh good, and I just get to watch it all happen?"
"No! Because it's pitch black in there, and you'll be safe out here!"
"Even better! I won't even get to know what happens to you if you die because I'll be left out here all alone!"
"That's not a valid point, because it might be all sunshine and rainbows in there and I'll be fine!"
"Then why can't I go in if it's all sunshine and rainbows?"
Dammit.
"Because what if it's not!"
Oh yeah, valid point she's on your side now, go me, yet again.
"Oh, you're such a-"
Your argument was cut off by a low grunting noise that did not sound happy at all. The both of you turned to see a giant Mudhorn walking its way out of the cave, giving what seemed to be a death glare directed at him more than you.
Before he had time to react you reached up and unclasped the flashlight from his helmet, then stood in front of him and did the ritual of placing your forehead on his. Immediately he snaked his arms around your waist and brought you closer.
"You distract it, I'll get the egg. I think it likes you more," you whispered, making the bounty hunter let out an embarrassing snort.
"Seems more like hate to me."
This made you shrug, but giggle nonetheless. "Don't die, please. I do still need you, you know."
The bounty hunter could then feel his heart in his throat at your words. He could've poured all his feelings out right there, but he knew that yet again, now was not the time. Instead he only responded with, "Come back to me."
He smiled as you grinned as well, and found himself holding on just a little bit longer. "Always."
With that, you made a mad dash to his right in an attempt to go around the large rhino. Said Mudhorn didn't notice you at all, much to your amusement, and lowered it's upper body to the ground, getting into position to start running.
How the hell am I gonna fight this thing?
The Mandalorian didn't have much time to answer that question before the Mudhorn began sprinting straight towards him. Out of the corner of his eye the bounty hunter saw a glimpse of your hair as you ran into the cave, and that split second of distraction was enough of an opening for the Mudhorn to run into him and knock him back a good 30 feet.
He groaned as his back hit the ground and his body slid back in the mud, feeling it get under his armour and seep through his clothes. His neck felt sore as his head smacked against the ground, but he did his best to quickly stand back up.
He then grabbed his rifle and tried to load it, but the mud had jammed the loading cartridge, rendering the whole rifle useless. Still, the bounty hunter pressed on, desperate to get as much defense as he possibly could against the animal 5 times the size of himself.
His finagling attempt ended up being a bust as the Mudhorn ran at him again at full speed, knocking him back another 40 feet. The bounty hunter groaned again as his head whipped back against the ground and he slid back in the mud again, hurriedly trying to come up with a new plan.
He sat up quickly and tried wiping his wrist clean, thinking that maybe he could use the fire to fend off the beast.
That worked for about 2 seconds before the large rhino used its massive front horn to ram it into his chest, knocking the wind out of the Mandalorian and making him see stars. The bounty hunter gasped for breath as he willed the blinding pain in his chest to go away before using his whipcord and getting it stuck in the beast's face.
That also only proved to be useful for about 3 seconds before the Mudhorn quickly became irritated and started running in the opposite direction, making the bounty hunter go flying as his arm was still attached to the cord.
His shoulder screamed at him for ever thinking that would be a good idea, and he went for a little roll in the mud as the cord broke from the force of the Mudhorn acting against him.
The animal then rammed into his chest again, once more making him lose his breath and go tumbling backwards. His vision was starting to go all fuzzy as the pain increased tenfold, and he found himself wheezing from now having crushed ribs.
He glanced down to see his chest plate had completely opened up again and was sparking with electricity, making him groan this time in frustration more than anything else.
The Mandalorian's legs and arms felt all tingly as he realized he was drained; his adrenaline was completely worn out and every muscle in his body ached beyond belief.
Mud was covering most of his vizor, leaving him barely able to see, but nonetheless, he willed his legs to move and stand him up. Panting, he brought himself on one knee and grabbed the small knife from his boot, coming to terms with the fact that there was not much else he could do. This is certainly not the way he wanted to die, but it seemed like he had no choice.
As the Mudhorn sprinted straight towards him, the bounty hunter's life flashed before his eyes, and he found that most of it was you.
Sure, there was the odd memory here and there about becoming a Mandalorian, but the ones he enjoyed, the ones he wanted to see were of you.
And they mostly centered around the thought that he's spent years not telling you how he feels. But how could he? He's certain that if you felt the same way, there'd be no more Mandalorian from him. And if you didn't, you'd leave him forever and his life would no longer have any meaning.
But would not being the Mandalorian be such a bad thing? He's not so sure he's ready to settle down just yet, but he knows the second you told him you wanted to he would.
Is that a problem? Yes.
But does he care? No.
Sighing, he stood up to his full height as the Mudhorn sprinted towards him at full speed, while the Mandalorian just lazily held the knife out in front of his body; his energy had been completely drained, and there really was nothing else he could do.
Maybe if he died this way then he wouldn't have to live with the possible rejection. That thought made him roll his eyes instantly. What a coward.
Very unacceptimg of this fate, the Mandalorian held his knife in front of him, determined to fight no matter how tired he was.
However, as soon as the rhino got about 4 feet away, it all of a sudden couldn't move forward anymore. The bounty hunter stood there in shock and confusion, wondering what was going on. He could clearly see that the animal was desperately trying to get to him, but something was holding it back. He continued to stand there dumbfounded as you came up in front of the now floating Mudhorn and placed your hand on its head, doing your best to soothe the beast and calm it down.
"Hey! Hey, it's okay, it's okay." The creature immediately began calming down, and the bounty hunter gave an even bigger look of confusion as he thought it was you keeping it in place. Since when could you do that?
That thought was quickly diminished, however, when he looked to his left and noticed the kid was holding its hand out with its eyes closed. It seemed to be concentrating very hard. The baby became tired very quickly from the obvious overexertion of whatever it was doing, and it clued in that you were trying to calm the creature down to put less strain on the Child's work load.
It seemed your help wasn't enough though, because after a few seconds the kid backed up in his carriage and passed out, exhausted from doing... the floaty of the Mudhorn thing.
As soon as the kid fell back the Mudhorn dropped to the ground, and that's when the Mandalorian stepped forward and plunged his knife straight into the beast's neck, killing it almost instantly.
The bounty hunter gasped for air as he fell back, but had a much softer landing than he expected. He glanced up to see your face looking back down at him with an obviously worried expression.
"Lumpy, I said distract the thing, not take a mud bath with it."
The Mandalorian could form no response in his attempt to catch his breath, knowing if he tried to speak it would probably end up being offensive in another language. He rested his head on your legs and desperately tried to regain his energy as you wiped the mud away from where his eyes would be.
"Did you... get the... the egg?" he asked in a still very breathless tone, and you looked at him with a concerned face.
"Well, I was hoping you wouldn't notice so quickly but I actually couldn't find any egg-"
"WHAT?"
You giggled as you wiped some more mud off of the bounty hunter's helmet and looked down to see the rest of the damage done to his armour. "I'm just kidding, of course I got it. I put it over there, it's fine. I'm so sorry I put you through this."
The Mandalorian waved his hand around in a non-chalant manner, but in an overly dramatic way. "Nah, it's fine, I mean I did almost die multiple times, but it's all good-"
He smiled at the scoff you made as you responded, "You know what you're right, I think I just over estimated your skills and abilities to be able to-"
"Are you serious? Did you see the size of that thing?"
"Yes, I did, and the baby seemed to have much more success in taking it down than you did!"
"Yeah, well he's got weird magic stuff and look now, he's knocked out."
"Aw, the poor thing's probably exhausted. We need to get him back."
The bounty hunter sighed at your statement because he knew you were right but he didn't want to move, partially because it physically hurt him to do so, but mostly because he just wanted to stay like this forever, even though it was super uncomfortable with all of the mud. "Just... a few more minutes."
He smirked at the small smile you sent him and closed his eyes, revelling in the last few minutes he had before you had to make the long journey back to the Jawas.
"Lumpy?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm really worried about the baby."
He sighed again, not wanting to get up. He mentally went through the list of all the things that had to be done and internally groaned in frustration. You had to help the kid, and then he had to figure out a way to put the ship back together. Not to mention his armour needed an extreme fix up too. And then get the kid back to the client.
With one last deep breath, the bounty hunter sat up, agreeing.
"Alright, let's get going."
---
The Mandalorian handed the egg to the Jawas, feeling much more relieved now that he can finally get the parts back and get off the planet. He shook his head in disgust and turned your body around to face the Ugnaught as the Jawas began feasting on the furry egg, opting out on watching them stick their hands in it and slurp it up.
"I'm surprised you waited for us," he said to the shorter man.
The bounty hunter snickered as you shoved his shoulder and stepped in front of him. "What he means to say is thank you for waiting for us."
The Ugnaught only shrugged and responded, "I'm just surprised it took you so long."
The bounty hunter only rolled his eyes at the punch to his ego, but determined that after seeing you laugh at the comment, he would take all the jabs in the galaxy to see it again. "Yes, well, there were some minor complications," he tried to play it cool, and almost broke the façade from your stare of disbelief at his words.
The shorter man nodded his head in knowing and walked up the ramp with the Jawas. The Mandalorian watched as you followed him and started laughing at a small joke he made as you began loading the parts onto the cart, and he rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.
Years. It's been years you idiot, get over it.
But could he really do that?
---
On the ride back to the ship, you sat next to the Mandalorian and gently cradled the Child in your arms, glancing up at him with worry.
"Is it still sleeping?" the Ugnaught asked as he was riding the blurrg pulling the cart.
You nodded your head as you stroked the baby's cheek.
"Yes," the bounty hunter replied, obvious concern laced in his voice as well.
"Was it injured?"
"I don't think so," you answered.
"At least, not physically," the bounty hunter clarified, and he smiled at your nod of confirmation.
"Explain it to me again," the shorter man asked, still not understanding what exactly happened.
"Lumpy, do you think it has the Force?" you asked him, furrowing your eyebrows in thought.
"The Force?"
You nodded your head in affirmation. "Yeah, like in the stories my Grandma used to tell. You remember Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, don't you? Those stories went on for ages."
The Mandalorian thought about what you were saying, and remembered you telling him about how Darth Vader was the cause of the destruction of your home. Not to mention the Battle of Yandor was such a pivotal point in history that the whole galaxy knew about it within days.
"I don't know," you shrugged. "I just can't think of any specific species that could do such a thing."
The bounty hunter slowly nodded at your words but didn't have an answer. He had certainly heard of those things, but had no idea if it was true or not.
The conversation was cut short by the arrival at the Razor Crest, and the Mandalorian let out a loud and rather annoyed sigh. He walked up to it and placed his hand on the side, wondering how it was going to get fixed.
"There's no way we're gonna get this to work without a full maintenance facility. This is gonna take days to fix."
He heard you scoff yet again behind him, making him turn around to face you with his eyebrows raised.
"How dare you doubt our knowledge," you accused as you gently placed the baby back down in the carriage and gave it another quick glance before jogging beside the Ugnaught.
"If you care to help, it might go faster," the shorter man quipped, and the bounty hunter glared at the little fist bump you shared with the Ugnaught.
"Don't mind him, he's a little slow when it comes to technical stuff like this," you explained, talking as if he wasn't 3 feet away from you and very much listening to every word you were saying.
"How do you manage to do it all on your own?" the shorter man teased, and the Mandalorian grinned as you snorted at that question and picked up a torch and some goggles.
"Beats me."
The Ugnaught then brought a metal plate over to the Mandalorian and held it out to him. "There is much work to do."
The bounty hunter looked up at the ship and sighed. You were already climbing up to the top with another metal sheet to weld onto the ship and he obeyed, knowing there was indeed much to be done.
It was an entire week of giggles, little jokes, small arguments, worry over the baby, almost no food or sleep, story telling, burn marks littered over everyone's body, from comfortable silence to loud breakouts in song, and everything in between before the Razor Crest was fully operational once more.
The Mandalorian then sat in the cockpit and turned everything on, sighing in relief as everything seemed to be the way it needed to be.
He smiled as you came up behind him, carrying the baby because you were still very worried, and hung the dice you gave him all those years ago back up on the little hook attached to the windshield.
The bounty hunter looked up at you and noticed there was still mud caked into your hair, making him realize if you needed a shower, he definitely did. You made eye contact with him and gave him a small grin of your own, cradling the baby in one arm and using the other to flick a few more switches.
"Seems like we're all good now," you observed, checking all the computer screens for any signs of something going wrong.
The Mandalorian stood up and nodded his head in agreement, then made his way over to you. He looked down at the sleeping Child in your arms and frowned. "I think it's gonna be okay," you whispered, gently caressing its face with your finger and rocking it slowly. "We just gotta give it some time."
The bounty hunter only nodded again and looked at your face, trying to read your expression. He could see the increased worry from the little creases forming between your brows and the squinting of your eyes as you tried to figure out a way to help the baby.
Without saying anything the Mandalorian pulled you into a hug, even though he knew he smelled like literal poo, and held you as close as he possibly could towards himself. He internally sighed in relief as you seemed to snuggle a bit closer, and he knew that it was going to be very difficult to let the baby go.
Pushing that thought aside, because that was not a road he wanted to go down right now, he gently reminded you that it's time to go.
You nodded, responding quietly, "We have to go say thank you, our new friend deserves the world for his kindness."
The bounty hunter agreed and followed you out of the cockpit to where the Ugnaught was standing. Together the three of you looked out of the open hatch, enjoying the view of the planet now that you were done building.
"We can't thank you enough," you started. "For absolutely everything."
"Please allow us to give you a portion of the reward," the bounty hunter offered, feeling just as grateful as you were towards him.
"I cannot accept," the Ugnaught declined. "You are my guests, and I am therefore at your service."
The bounty hunter watched as you slowly nodded your head and gave him a big hug with your free arm. "Then all we can offer you is our sincerest thanks."
"And I offer mine," the shorter man replied, making the bounty hunter scrunch his nose in confusion.
"What for?"
"Well, thank you for bringing peace to my valley. And for giving me a happy memory to look back on, despite the circumstance." He then collected his bag and walked down the ramp, leaving the bounty hunter to wrap his arm around your waist as he climbed onto his blurrg.
"Good luck with the Child," he waved, and while the bounty hunter nodded, you gave a sad smile and wave back. "May it survive and bring you a handsome reward."
The frown you gave after that sentence did not go unnoticed by the bounty hunter, but he kept his mouth shut and simply nodded.
"I have spoken," the Ugnaught finished, and with that, he turned the blurrg around and began the long journey back to his home. The Mandalorian squeezed your hip a little as you rested your head on his shoulder, but no words were spoken between the two of you.
Silently you headed back to the cockpit, the bounty hunter sitting in the pilot's seat and you in the one behind it, not putting the Child down for even a second.
The Mandalorian started up the engine and pressed any more buttons that had to be pressed, successfully letting the ship take off away from the planet.
After you were floating in space for a minute or two, the bounty hunter turned around to see a small tear falling down your cheek. He quietly leaned over and wiped it from your face, only using a gentle whisper to talk to you.
"We've gotta bring it to the client. I'm sure it'll be okay."
He sighed as you only nodded and kept your eyes on the baby, making the Mandalorian turn back around in his seat and plug in the coordinates. He didn't like it at all, but this was his job.
So he sucked it up and let the autopilot take over, watching the millions of stars go by as he contemplated whether giving up the Child was a good idea.
From what he could tell by his gut instinct, it was not a good idea at all.
Warnings: violence, blood, death, fluff... you know the drill.
It's been about 5 years since the Death Star had blown up for the second time, meaning it's been around 8 years since the Mandalorian met you. The funny thing is, even after all this time you still manage to surprise him in a new way everyday. Even if it's just the small things.
Yesterday it was when you were reading him a book, like you usually do when travelling, except this time he looked over and saw it was written in Jawaese. When he stopped you abruptly and asked where you learned that, but you just giggled and told him: "Well, when you have to deal with Jawas trying to steal your Grandma's droids all the time you tend to pick up a thing or two."
You had once again left him speechless, something he's sure you didn't even know you could do.
The day before yesterday it was your little idea to buy him a book this time instead of the other way around, making his stomach do flips upon seeing the little message you put at the front. He wouldn't admit it, but he was actually quite excited for this book. You must have seen him looking at it, and you had even said yourself it looks interesting.
Today, you were hanging upside down from a pipe on the ceiling to fix some of the wires that had been shot. He looked all around to try and figure out how you managed to get yourself up there, but there were no walls, stools or boxes to stand on anywhere. You weren't even tall enough to reach the ceiling, so you couldn't have pulled yourself up.
When the Mandalorian asked you about how you got up there, you simply smiled and replied, "I climbed."
"Climbed what?"
You pointed to the wall that was closest to you (but still quite far away), explaining "That wall, and then I just kinda squeezed my feet in between the support beams that I knew would hold me up. I used them too - crawl? - on the ceiling."
He chuckled. "And you have to hang upside down because..."
"... because apparently I have to make things way harder and take way longer than they have to be." You seemed hesitant for a moment, but the bounty hunter waited for you to speak. Slowly, you spoke up. "Speaking of..."
"Yeah?"
"Could you help me down? I'm done and I don't want to climb back to the wall."
Chuckling again, he stepped closer to you until you were face to face, you being upside down. It kind of reminded him of that one scene in a book you read a few weeks ago. "What do you need me to do?"
"Um..." At first, he grinned when he saw you scrunch your nose and forehead in thought, but that grin fell instantly when he heard your suggestion.
"Could you just, I don't know, put your arms up and catch me when I let my feet loose?"
The Mandalorian stood there stunned for a minute. Why? He doesn't know, he's had to catch you multiple times before (each of those being a very long story), but this time seemed different. Was it because you asked him to instead of it being to save your life from your clumsiness?
He shook his head to get back to the present and cleared his throat to force down the feeling that was rising in his chest. He then did as you asked, easily letting you slide into his arms putting one under your back and the other under your knees.
"Woah," you said, holding your head in your hands. "I don't think I should've been upside down so long."
The bounty hunter almost snorted at hearing that but held it in, trying to be concerned for you instead. You rested your head on his shoulder and the Mandalorian held you a little closer as he carried you bridal style up to your room, right beside his.
He placed you gently on the bed and took the tools out of your hands, vacating them on the nightstand. He sat beside your bed and rested his arms on them, smiling at your droopy eyes.
"I have to go get the bounty," he said reluctantly. "You'll stay in here, right?"
You nodded slowly and yawned. "Yeah, I'm not going anywhere."
The Mandalorian laughed through his nose and studied you for a moment. Your hair had grown longer from when he first met you; you weren't a sickly skinny anymore, either, meaning you had gained a healthy amount of weight, which the bounty hunter was grateful for.
You were much stronger as well. He could see thin outlines of the muscles in your arms and legs from all of the running and heavy equipment you've moved (without him knowing until after you've already moved it).
Some of the muscle could also be from when he taught you many self defense techniques that he knew would come in handy. He didn't want to, because if he didn't have to that meant you weren't in any harm. But if you were going to stay with him in this dangerous line of business it would be beneficial for the both of them if you were able to defend yourself in case the bounty hunter wasn't there to help you.
The bags under your eyes were still there; another con to this job. Mind you, they definitely weren't as shallow as when he first laid his eyes on you, but they were still there. The only good thing about them was he could use it as an excuse to convince you to go to bed instead of staying up late to help him.
He meant it in no way of saying they made you look bad and you had to fix the way you looked (Maker knows there is not a thing he would change). He was merely concerned and was trying to help you look after yourself.
It was a mutual agreement though, because you did the same to him.
"Good luck," you mumbled with your eyes closed.
The Mandalorian gently pressed his forehead against yours, closing his eyes as well.
"Come back to me," you whispered.
"Always."
You giggled and opened your eyes at hearing that, and the Mandalorian smiled too as he referenced one of your favourite book series of all time because yes, Harry Potter books do exist in this universe and there is nothing you can say to change my mind.
He stood up and exited the ship, leaving you to sleep in your room.
---
The Mandalorian walked off the ramp to his ship and held the tracker out, making sure he was in the correct place. There was snow blowing in the wind, but he didn't pay too much attention to it because his armour was keeping him warm.
Placing the tracker back into his belt, the bounty hunter began stepping towards the small town on the cold planet.
After a few minutes of walking he approached the bar the tracker believed the Mythrol target to be hiding in, and stood in front of the door, waiting for it to open. When it did the bounty hunter observed the place for a few seconds, immediately noticing the 3 guys that were threatening his bounty.
He walked in silently and went straight for the bar, paying no mind to literally every single person looking at him.
One of the men ganging up on his asset felt he was in no danger in the presence of a Mandalorian and spoke up rudely in Huttese.
"You spilled my drink..." the man snarled, keeping his eyes on the bounty hunter, but got no reply.
Now, the Mandalorian knew some Huttese, and could faintly make out what he was saying. Something about sprinkling his... glass? No that's not right. If you were here you would be able to help him. He's just glad you weren't.
"Hey, Mando!" the man tried again.
Ah, that he did recognize, the stereotypical Mandalorian nickname used by everyone on every Mandalorian. This means that this bearded man was, in fact, talking to him. However he did not let it get to him and simply stayed quiet, keeping his eyes forward.
The bounty hunter heard the man snicker under his breath and walk up behind him. "I said, you spilled, my drink..."
Good grief, I heard you the first time. You lost your cup, or- no that can't be it either.
"He says you spilled his drink," the bartender translated.
Oh.
"It's fine," the bartender insisted. "It's on me."
"Is that real Beskar Steel?" the man asked.
The Mandalorian did know that he was talking about his armour now, given by the gestures to his chest and the clear word of 'Beskar', but he showed no sign of his understanding by staying still.
One of the other aliens that were attacking the bounty, who had orange skin and many tentacles dangling from his chin, came up behind him and started growling threateningly. The bounty hunter kept his head straight. Almost there.
The first man with the beard took a knife to his chest armour and shaved off a line of it, effectively removing the paint and leaving a scratch.
"Here," said the bartender as he slid the drink down the counter for the bearded man.
Now.
The bounty hunter snatched the cup, elbowed the bearded man behind him and slammed the cup into the head of the third man. He grabbed the Tentacles by the front of his shirt and bashed his head against the counter, then blocked the bearded man from taking a swing by grabbing a hold of the attacking arm. With his other hand he punched the guy in the armpit, then twisted the arm in his grip and stabbed the man in the back.
As the man fell the Mandalorian turned around to see Tentacles trying to escape, but he quickly shot his Whipcord thrower at the runaway's feet, causing the alien to trip and fall. He then began pulling the alien back towards himself when Tentacles started shooting his blaster at him. However, it was already too late because the Mandalorian had pulled him back exactly where he needed to be.
Instead of aiming his blaster at the alien, he aimed it at the door's control switch where it closed around Tentacle's body, cutting it in half from the waist down.
With everyone's eyes on him he walked up to his bounty, still not saying a word. The Mythrol began laughing at the situation, and spoke up.
"Thank you. Thank you very much. You have my heartfelt gratitude," the blue alien used a tone that didn't sound very convincing, though.
The bounty hunter stayed silent for a few more seconds, causing the Mythrol to look down at the table.
"You know what? Here," he said as he pushed the credits towards the bounty hunter. "You take my credits. Buy yourself a drink."
The Mandalorian ignored what the target was saying as he placed his bounty puck on the table and turned it on.
"Oh," said the Mythrol. "Is that a bounty puck? Is that me?"
Still, the Mandalorian stayed silent.
"Look, there must be some mistake. I can get you more credits-"
"I can bring you in warm," the Mandalorian said, cutting off the alien. "Or I can bring you in cold." For emphasis he rested his hand on his gun.
The Mythrol sighed and gave in, allowing the Mandalorian to place handcuffs on his wrists and lead him outside.
After getting a ride to his ship parked on the frozen lake the Mandalorian jumped out of the speeder, ordering the Mythrol to do the same.
"You're kidding me, right?" He said, referring to the bounty hunter's ship that was falling apart. "I can hire us a Livery Cruiser. No big deal. It won't come out of your end, I'll pay for it."
The bounty hunter stayed quiet as he pushed the target out of the speeder.
"I'm just trying to make it pleasant."
The Mandalorian went and paid the man that drove them to his ship, tuning out the questions and comments the Mythrol had as he went to open the hatch to the ship.
Behind him he heard the target screaming about something in the water and rolled his eyes beneath the mask.
"Open the hatch!" the target kept screaming, obviously not realizing it was already open.
The Mandalorian fought back a loud sigh as he grabbed the bounty by his shoulder and dragged him in, narrowly missing the bite from the creature in the water which instead landed on one of the ships feet.
"Dank farrik, that was close!" The bounty hunter heard the target say but paid no mind to it as he raced to your room. He opened the curtain to see you a bit shocked from the sudden awakening, but calmed down a bit when you made eye contact.
"Lumpy, what's going on-"
"I need you to stay in this room until I say so, okay? And hold on to something, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
When he saw your nod of confirmation he closed the curtain and went straight for the cockpit, ignoring the whining and complaining of the target. He pushed some buttons to start up the engine and started raising the ship, but was stopped when the monster outside wouldn't let go of the landing gear.
"It's taking us down, what're you doing?"
Still blocking out the voice of the Mythrol the Mandalorian kept the ship hovering and left the cockpit, grabbing his Amban Rifle and heading towards his still open hatch.
He reached his rifle out and turned on the shock feature to electrocute the monster, which made it scream in pain and let go of the ship.
He then closed the hatch and walked back to the cockpit, aware of what the target was saying but not really paying too much attention to it. The bounty hunter heard that he as going to go look for the bathroom, but the Mandalorian knew better.
The bathroom is not a hard thing to miss. As a matter of fact it's right out in the open, but the target was going to go exploring like they all do and try to find a way to escape.
And he was right. As the Mythrol was observing the other targets he put into the frozen carbonite chambers, the bounty hunter snuck up behind him and pushed him into an open one, turned it on, and froze the bounty to prevent his escape. Not to mention the benefit of it shutting him up.
When he was finished he walked back to your room and saw you reading your book. You turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. "You done?"
The bounty hunter nodded and you stood up, stretching your arms above your head. "I think we're going to have to land some where soft so I can check up on the landing gear," you stated with a yawn as you stumbled out of your room from a small amount of turbulence. "And maybe some other things too."
He followed you to the cockpit and sat down behind the pilot's seat, watching with small amusement as you yawned again and asked, "Where are we going?"
"The guild hall on Nevarro, I've got to drop these guys off and look for a new job."
You nodded your head as you plugged in the coordinates. "Why don't you go get some sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there."
Reluctant yet grateful you had offered him some rest the Mandalorian went to his room and took off all of his armour, including his helmet, and fell into a deep sleep much quicker than he thought he would.
He woke up about three and a half hours later to your knocking on the outside walls and gentle voice. "Lumpy, we're here."
He sleepily rubbed his eyes and stayed silent before putting his helmet on and responding, "Okay, I'll be out in a minute."
He heard your footsteps walk back to the cockpit as he finished putting everything on and walked out, stepping up behind you.
He watched as you gracefully pushed any button and flicked any switch you needed to land the Razor Crest as smooth as possible. He noticed that you parked it behind a large rock, probably to block the view of anyone else so you could check up on the exterior.
"You go do what you need to do," you said as you gently traced the new line on his armour that you could've sworn wasn't there before. "I just have to make sure we don't die next time we fly this thing."
"I should be quick this time, I'm only returning the bounties and finding a new one."
You nodded as you both walked down the ramp. "I'll be here."
---
The Mandalorian walked into the bar and headed straight for his guild leader Greef Karga. Ignoring everyone's stares as per usual he sat down across from his leader.
"Ah, that was fast," Karga noticed. "Did you catch them all?"
In confirmation the Mandalorian placed all of the silent tracking fobs on the table.
"Good," said Karga, and placed the reward on the table.
"These are Imperial Credits," commented the Mandalorian. What was he supposed to do with those?
"They still spend."
"I don't know if you heard," continued the bounty hunter. "But the Empire is gone."
"It's all I've got."
The Mandalorian was about to take the tracking fobs back before Karga stopped him.
"Save the theatrics," he scolded. "Fine, I'll... I can do Calamari Flan, but I can only pay half."
After a contemplation, the Mandalorian reluctantly agreed.
Back at the ship, you were hiding in a small compartment under the ship while you were waiting for the men to take all of the bounties away. Once they were clear you went back onto the ship to get your tools and began fixing the chomped on foot, sighing and rolling your eyes at the situation.
In the bar, Karga was being no help at all in finding a new job.
"What's your highest bounty?" the bounty hunter asked.
"Not much," Karga replied. "5000."
Is he serious? "That won't even cover fuel these days."
"Hmm," Karga hummed as he was thinking. "There is one job."
Now his curiosity was peaked. "Let's see the puck."
"No puck," said Karga. "Face to face."
---
The Mandalorian walked back to his ship to check up and inform you of what was going on. He approached silently but you were somehow still able to hear him.
"Lumpy, there-ugh-you are," you grunted, struggling with turning the bolt in your wrench. "I was beginning to get worried."
He smiled as he walked up behind you and tightened the bolt for you. "Ah, thank you," you sighed, wiping some sweat from your forehead. "Where are we going now?"
"We're not going just yet, I have to meet somebody to get the job."
You furrowed your eyebrows. "I thought you just went to see Karga?"
"I did," the Mandalorian nodded in confirmation. "But the only jobs he had were not enough to let us even afford fuel."
"Yikes."
"Exactly. So, he gave me a chip and I'm going to go talk to the client now, get more information."
"Can I see the puck?"
The Mandalorian laughed through his nose at your question, for it was the exact same thing he asked not even 15 minutes ago.
"There is no puck. Client wants it done... I guess under the table."
You nodded. "Alright, well. The landing gear wasn't that bad, just had to replace a few small parts we already had. But I did see some leaks under the belly so I'll have to replace those tubes. If I can't find anything I'll have to go into town and buy them."
"There are a couple spare credits from the last bounty, I'm sure those will be fine."
You nodded again. "Okay. I'll only leave if I have to."
The Mandalorian stopped for a minute to gaze at the smile you sent him. "Thank you."
"Of course. Hurry back."
With a mock wave of a salute, the Mandalorian walked away towards the place he was told the client would be.
---
Another 2 hours later the Mandalorian was walking back to the ship with little to no information on the new job and a new pauldron mixed into his armour, something you noticed right away.
"Oooo," you awed, touching the new piece on his shoulder. "You know you could've just told me you were shopping for new clothes, I wouldn't have judged."
"Ha ha," the bounty hunter said in a half-hearted laughter. "The reward for the new job is a whole camtono of Beskar for when we deliver the asset, and this was my down-payment."
"Wow, that's generous. I remember you told me it's very valuable."
"It is, and the excess of it I donated to the Foundlings."
You smiled gently at hearing that. "That's good."
After revelling at the loss of your arm on his shoulder, the bounty hunter spoke up. "So did you have to go into town?"
Cute as it was, he didn't like the little frown that made it onto your face after hearing that question. "I did, and I had to spend most of the credits. I'm sorry. One of the main fuel pipes burst and we didn't have the specific pipe size needed to replace it."
The Mandalorian sighed, because of course, that just had to happen, but he was happy you made it back alright.
"I don't think anyone saw me walk to the ship, though," you added, looking down at the ground.
"Well, you're back now, so that's good. Is there a problem with anything else?"
You shook your head. "I don't think so, at least not from what I could see."
"That's good."
You nodded. "How'd it go with the client?" you asked while wiping your hands from the grease. He smiled as he saw a bit of it near your nose where you must have had an itch.
"Weird," he replied, furrowing his brows.
"Weird how?"
"I don't know. There were Stormtroopers guarding him for one-"
"Imperial Stormtroopers?"
He nodded and continued. "And I didn't get much information about the asset."
"No puck?" you guessed.
"No puck."
You sighed and thought for a moment. "What else did you get?"
"It's 50 years old, I have a tracking fob, and the last known location between where the tracking fob picked it up and now."
You sighed again. "Well, it's a good thing I fixed the main fuel pipe or we'd probably never make it looking for this thing. Anything else?"
"It has to be alive."
Picking up your tools you walked up the ramp and turned around when you noticed the bounty hunter wasn't following you. Truth be told he was too busy admiring you and wondering how you were still here with him after all these years.
"Are you coming?"
Smirking at your question he followed you up silently and closed the hatch, heading towards the cockpit to head into space where you would help him figure out the next move.
---
The planning and calculations from you and the Mandalorian had brought you to a planet much like Tatooine with it's sand dunes and scorching hot weather.
Curious as to what where the target would be you followed the bounty hunter down the ramp and looked around as he viewed through the scope in his rifle. It was silent save for your breathing, the wind and the beeping of the tracking fob.
As the Mandalorian was looking through the scope a creature that looked like a fish on legs with tiny T-Rex arms appeared in his vision, scaring you and making the bounty hunter ignite the flamethrower on his wrist.
"Get back!" he screamed as the creature bit into the same arm as the flamethrower, rendering the fire useless. The creature wouldn't let go of the Mandalorian's arm and used that to its advantage, repeatedly throwing the bounty hunter against the ground.
As an attempt to escape the creature's grasp the Mandalorian began punching the side of its head, which only angered the animal more and made it bite onto his other arm instead.
"Lumpy, hang on a second!" you tried to get his attention and tell him to calm down, but either he couldn't hear you or was panicking too much to pay attention.
All of a sudden an electric tranquilizer shot from a distance into the creature's side which made it pass out with the Mandalorian's arm still in it's mouth. He was lying on the ground trying to get up when you raced towards him.
"Hey, are you okay? Come on, let's get your arm out-" you were cut off by another screech from a second animal of the same species running straight at you.
"Don't move," you whispered as you stood up and walked slowly towards the creature.
The Mandalorian then fought harder than ever to get his arm free. "Hey, Y/N, wait, stop!"
"Shhh," you hushed, both at the Mandalorian and the creature. You held your hands out in front of you but not in a defensive stance, in an open-arms sort of way. This caused the creature to become confused and slow down.
"It's okay," you whispered, slowly inching your way forward.
The Mandalorian watched with a silent panic as he continued to try and release his arm, wanting to protect you in case your plan went horribly wrong.
Of course, as per usual when it came to who had the better idea, he was wrong.
He stopped struggling as he noticed you had successfully calmed the animal down and began petting it, murmuring words he couldn't hear from this distance and giggling as it seemed to lean into your touch.
He sighed as he never thought he could relate to an animal, but he knows all about craving more of your touch.
A third of the kind came walking up towards the both of you, except this one had a person sitting on it. He looked to be shorter, though it was hard to tell since he was sitting on the fish thing.
The person had orange skin and white hair growing on the sides of his face. He was wearing goggles on top of his head and carried a blaster in the hand that wasn't around the rope of the creature he was perched on.
The Mandalorian relaxed as he saw no more threat, and was now easily able to take his arm out of the animal's mouth.
"Thank you," he panted to the man.
Upon noticing his armour being bit into quite badly you rushed to his side, kneeling on the ground next to him and inspecting the arm.
"I'm okay," he whispered at you, making you look up at him.
"Are you sure, it looks pretty bad and I wasn't that helpful by telling you to calm down, that was actually pretty terrible advice-"
He placed his finger on your lips, effectively making you quiet as he smiled beneath the mask. "I promise you, I'm fine."
You nodded, and together you looked up at the man, still sitting on the creature.
"You're a bounty hunter," the man stated.
"Yes," confirmed said bounty hunter.
"And you are?" the man asked pointing to you.
You stayed silent, for you didn't know how the Mandalorian wanted this question answered.
"She's with me," the bounty hunter affirmed, and left it at that.
The man nodded and looked at the both of you for a moment, noticing the bounty hunter was still in a somewhat protective stance as he put you behind his arm and pushed his body slightly in front of yours. He saw you had one hand on his shoulder and the other wrapped around the bounty hunter's arm in front of you, and he smiled internally.
"I will help you," the man declared, making the both of you look at each other in confusion. "I have spoken," he said and turned around, leaving the two of you to shrug and follow him wherever he was going.
---
The Mandalorian sat down in what seemed to be this man's house, pulling his chair up to put him a small bit in front of yours.
He was correct in his assumption of the alien being shorter, for he seemed to be around 4 feet tall. If the Mandalorian was correct, his species was Ugnaught.
The bounty hunter looked around, noticing that the house was one big room, with a small kitchen to his left and a small bed on his right.
The alien man walked up to his kitchen, saying "Many have passed through. They seek the same one as you."
He offered you a cup of water which you took and kindly smiled at him mumbling your thanks, and drank from the small cup.
"Did you help them?" asked the bounty hunter.
"Yes," answered the Ugnaught. "They died."
The Mandalorian did his best to keep himself from laughing as heard you choke on your water from hearing that.
"Well, then I don't know if I want your help," challenged the bounty hunter.
"Lumpy," you scolded, nudging him with your elbow.
He looked back at you and ignored the feeling he got when he saw your 'angry' face.
"Well, it's true," he defended.
"That doesn't make it okay to say," you fought back.
"You do want my help," the Ugnaught interjected. "I can show you to the encampment."
"What's your cut?" he also ignored the sight of you rolling your eyes in his peripherals.
"Half."
"Half the bounty to guide? Seems steep," he accused.
"No, half of the blurrg you helped capture," the man clarified as he sat down across from the both of you.
"The blurrg? You can keep them both."
"No," the Ugnaught insisted. "You will need one to ride. The way is impossible to pass without a blurrg mount."
"I don't know how to ride blurrg." the Mandalorian countered.
The Ugnaught only stood up saying, "I have spoken."
The Mandalorian sighed and looked over at you, watching with slight amusement as you sleepily swirled the water in your cup, rubbing one of your eyes.
"Come on, let's get you to bed," he mumbled holding out his hand to help you up.
You groggily glanced up at it and took it, slowly standing up and leaning against the Mandalorian for support. "Are we going back to the ship?"
"Nonsense," the shorter man objected. "You may sleep using my extra beds, I have work I must accomplish before I may retire to sleep as well."
"Thank you," you breathed out. "For your kind services."
The man only smiled and waved you off, heading out of his home as the sun was setting. As you leaned your head against the Mandalorian's new shoulder plate he hooked your arm through his and lead you over to one of the beds.
He helped you sit down and watched with silent affection as you took your hair out of the intricate braid you had managed to get it into while yawning about 4 times.
You laid down and closed your eyes, but quickly shot them back open at the realization of something. "What about you?"
"What about me?" he asked, voice laced in confusion.
"Well, when are you going to sleep?" the Mandalorian smiled gently and sat down next to you. "I got sleep a few hours ago, thanks to you. I'll be alright."
"Are you sure?" you questioned, but not convincingly enough because you had already laid back down and closed your eyes.
"I'm sure."
Just as he was getting ready to stand up, you placed your hand on his arm. "Will you please stay with me?"
Immediately the bounty hunter plopped down on the bed and laid down next to you, his back facing the only door to the home. "Of course I will."
"Lumpy, please, at least take off some of your armour, you're going to get sore if you don't."
Upon hearing this he stood up and took off only the heavy metal parts of his armour, minus his helmet. He placed them all right beside the bed to ensure (as long as he was woken up) he can use it as some sort of shield in case he had to protect you and himself.
He then laid down on his back, for he discovered that was the only way he could comfortably sleep with his helmet on, and relaxed back into the hard mattress. You had rolled onto your side to face him, and when the Mandalorian looked down at you he could see you had already fallen asleep.
His heart began to race as you moved closer to him, wrapping your arms around his right arm and resting your head on his shoulder. Your body seemed to curl into his as you hugged his arm, and one of your hands found its way into his, your fingers sliding between his.
He let his head fall against yours as he squeezed your hand gently and found himself falling asleep even though he had slept merely a few hours ago.
---
The Mandalorian could hear you giggling as he fell off of the blurrg for the thousandth time, making him roll his eyes as he stood up and playfully glare at you. Even though you couldn't see his face he could tell you knew what he was doing and laughed again, petting the blurrg you were already sitting on.
He did see a look of sympathy cross your face though, making you jump off and go stand next to the Ugnaught outside the ring.
"Perhaps if you remove your helmet," the shorter alien suggested.
"Perhaps he remembers I tried to roast him," the Mandalorian countered.
"This is a female," the Ugnaught shot back. "The males are all eaten during mating."
Of course they are. He could see you trying to hold back your laughter and looked at you dead on, making the dam that held them back break.
The bounty hunter shook his head and turned back to the blurrg and jumped on it again, but the creature only got more irritated by this and growled as it tried to shake him off. The Mandalorian held on for dear life, but it was no use.
He fell back onto the ground, a bit fed up now with the situation. He walked straight to the Ugnaught after being threatened by the blurrg again.
"I don't have time for this, " he grunted out. "Do you have a Landspeeder or Speeder bike that I could hire?"
"You are a Mandalorian!" the Ugnaught argued. "Your ancestors rode the great Mythosaur! Surely you can ride this young foal," he said, pointing towards the blurrg. The bounty hunter looked back at it, then turned to you.
You reached out your hand to wipe off some of the dirt from where his eyes would be beneath the mask. "Just be gentle. It's an innocent creature, and if you want it to be your friend, you have to be it's friend first. Gentle."
The Mandalorian sighed, since he knew you were right and he was going on too intense.
This time, he slowly walked up to the blurrg, talking to it as calmly as he could. "Easy," he mumbled. "Easy." The creature hadn't moved yet, so he continued his small steps forward. "Now, all right. Settle down," he told the creature.
"Woah!" he raised his voice as she tried to attack him, but then quickly went back to being gentle. "Settle," he mumbled. "Settle. That's good, that's good," he praised the blurrg. He was close now.
"Easy," he murmured, and placed his hand on the creature's head. "Okay, that's good."
The bounty hunter could hear the blurrg purring at his touch, and was relieved that they were on much better terms now. Taking advantage of the animal now being calm, he used the rope as leverage to climb on top of the creature once more.
He relaxed when the blurrg didn't try to shake him off this time, and instead ran forward to get him moving.
"You did it!" you shouted in celebration as you ducked between the ropes into the ring. The Mandalorian slowed the blurrg he was riding down as you came closer.
"Good girl," you cooed at the creature, petting it slowly. "Very good girl."
"Okay, now that I can ride this thing can we get moving?" he asked in annoyance.
"Oh, don't be too offended," you whispered to the blurrg, though the Mandalorian could tell you knew he could hear you perfectly. "He's just grumpy cause he wants to take a speeder instead."
"Hey, I'm not grumpy," he defended.
You scoffed, "Of course you're not!" Then turned to the blurrg. "Yes he is."
Sighing the Mandalorian jumped off the creature and started walking towards the house as he began talking to you. "I'm not sure where you want to stay, but I'm sure the Ugnaught won't mind if you want to stay here, or you can go back to the ship-"
"Wait, I can't come with you?" That question made the Mandalorian stop in his tracks. You had never asked to go on a job with him before. He just assumed you never wanted to, and that made him feel better; you were much safer that way.
But now that you actually want to come? There's no guarantee that he can protect you and do his job at the same time, and that is not something he wants to risk.
"No, I was told that everyone who's tried to get this target has died and I am not risking that-"
"Oh, come on Lumpy, please, it's just one mission, please-"
"No." He continued walking back to the Ugnaught's home and could hear your footsteps walking behind him.
"But-"
"No."
"What if-"
"No."
"Alright, you got me there. But what if-"
"No."
"Come on-"
"Y/N."
"- why not -"
"Because I said no."
"- it's just one mission -"
"No."
"But why not!"
He quickly turned around and placed his hands on either side of your face. "BECAUSE I'M IN L-"
"If I may," the shorter man interrupted. "I believe it would be better if the girl comes with us. Her calming nature could be of good use."
"Lumpy," you whispered, resting your hands on his wrists. "Please."
"Why do you want to go?" he mumbled.
The Mandalorian watched as your hair blew gently in the wind and your eyes seemed full of curiosity.
"I don't know," you murmured back. "I just feel... like I have to."
The bounty hunter sighed as he leaned in and rested his forehead on yours. "I don't know if I can protect you though, and I don't know where we're going or what's going to happen, and if you get hurt I swear-"
"I'm going to be fine, I promise. And if I do get hurt, well... I'd like to think I'm a tough cookie, I can take it."
"You are tough."
You nodded slightly, and the Mandalorian could feel your grip tightening on his wrists.
"Let me come with you."
The bounty hunter was still very hesitant, because he knew if something happened to you he would never forgive himself.
But when he saw that you had closed your eyes and could feel you shaking slightly through his gloves, he knew that you really did want his approval, and if he did continue to say no, you would listen, no matter how much you wanted to go.
That made him upset, because he hated having to make you feel like he was in charge of you and you had to listen to everything he says. Like he was in control, and you were a pawn.
After at least 2 minutes of the only sound being your breathing and the grunts from the blurrg, he quietly whispered, "Alright."
He heard you let out a shaky sigh of relief, but he kept his hands where there were.
"Just please stay close to me unless I say otherwise."
You nodded vigorously, "Of course."
"Okay."
---
Together the three of you rode the blurrg with the Ugnaught in front to lead the way and the Mandalorian staying close beside you.
After hours of travelling in the hot sun, the shorter man stopped to overlook a canyon.
"That is where you'll find your quarry," he said as he pointed to a very small base just past a few more sand dunes.
The bounty hunter then reached his arm out to the shorter man, holding out a bag of credits. The Ugnaught put his hand out and shook his head in refusal, but the Mandalorian pressed on.
"Please," he pushed. "You deserve this."
"It's the least we could do to thank you," you added, and the bounty hunter felt grateful you were on the same page.
"Since these ones arrived, this territory has been an endless stream of mercenaries seeking reward and bringing destruction," he explained.
"Then why did you guide us?" you asked.
"They do not belong here," the Ugnaught answered. "Those that live here come to seek peace. There'll be no peace until they are gone. "
"Then why do you help?" questioned the bounty hunter.
"I have never met a Mandalorian," the man replied. "I've only read the stories. If they are true, you will make quick work of it. Then, there will be peace again."
The bounty hunter wasn't so sure he could live up to this man's expectations, because he didn't know which stories he had been told. Some are far greater than anything he could ever do.
He opted to remain silent, and let you do the talking instead.
"We shall try. Thank you very much for you help."
The man simply turned the blurrg around and gave a quick wave of his hand. "I have spoken."
---
"So, what's the plan?" the Mandalorian heard you ask as you were both lying flat on your stomachs looking at the base below.
He was observing what was going on through his small telescope when he answered. "I'm not sure yet. I can see 6 guys standing outside alone, who knows how many are inside."
He was doing his best to try and form a plan where you could stay off the map, maybe wait here for him to get back, even though you wouldn't like that very much. Or, if you really did want to help, he could cause a distraction and fight the guys while you sneaked into the place. He knew for a fact they would have no clue there was a girl with him. He was still cautious about this plan though, because there could be way too many guys for you to try fighting on the inside.
He sighed as couldn't think of any better ideas.
He saw you nod your head in his peripherals and turned to face you. "Okay, I think we should try-"
He was cut off by the sound of metal clanking.
"What's that?" you asked, furrowing your eyebrows and looking down again.
The Mandalorian peeked through his telescope to try and get a better look.
"Oh no," he mumbled.
"What is it?"
"A droid trying to do our job," he answered with a very audible sigh.
"Subparagraph 16 of the Bondsman Guild protocol waiver compels you to immediately produce said asset," the bounty droid said in a very loud but monotone voice.
One of the men at the base tried to take his gun out and shoot the droid, but the IG Unit was much quicker and shot him before he could even try. The bounty hunter heard you gasp as it continued to shoot all of the other men standing guard, then looked to see that they were closing all of the doors to get in the base as a lockdown drill.
The Mandalorian gave another loud and annoyed sigh. "Droids," he mumbled under his breath as he stood up. "C'mon," he waved you over to his side.
You instantly stood up and followed him, keeping quiet to listen to what he was saying.
"I need you to stay behind me, because anybody could shoot from anywhere and I need you to stay close. Do you understand?"
He could see you nod, but he needed to make sure you were safe, and you had to cooperate if that was to be accomplished.
"Y/N, I'm serious."
"Me too," you confirmed. "I understand."
"I think we should try making the droid our ally, I have a feeling it could be useful if more guys come and we have to break down the door."
"Okay," you nodded.
"Subparagraph 16 of the Bondsman Guild protocol waiver compels you to immediately produce said asset," the droid monotoned again.
You were both hiding behind a pillar when it spoke again. The Mandalorian turned to you. "Stay here, I've got to get that thing to shut up or we'll never get what we came here for."
He then came out from behind the pillar and shouted, "IG Unit! Stand down-" he was cut off by the droid firing at him and he flew back, hitting some barrels behind him.
He heard you yelp and run over to him but he quickly blocked you from view and held up his fob. "I'm in the Guild," he shouted.
"You are a Guild member?" the droid asked. "I thought I was the only one on assignment."
"That makes two of us," the bounty hunter groaned.
"And who is that," the IG questioned, pointing his gun at you.
"She had information on how to get here, she helped me," he quickly lied, still shielding you from the droid. "Now put the damn gun down."
"Alright," it said as it lowered it's weapons.
"So much for the element of surprise," you mumbled under your breath, and the Mandalorian couldn't agree more.
"Sadly, I must ask for your fob," the droid requested. "I have already issued the writ of seizure. The bounty is mine."
"Unless I am mistaken, you are, as of yet, empty-handed," the Mandalorian countered.
"This is true," the IG confirmed.
You stayed silent, and the Mandalorian knew it was because you weren't sure how he wanted this situation to be handled.
"I have a suggestion," the bounty hunter offered.
"Proceed."
"We split the reward."
"This is acceptable," the droid agreed.
"Great," the Mandalorian said in a very sarcastic tone, which seemed to go unnoticed by the IG Unit. "Now let's regroup, out of harm's way, and form a plan."
He waved the droid over but still kept his body in front of yours.
"I will of course receive the reputation merits associated with the mission."
"Can we talk about this later?" the bounty hunter barked to the droid.
"I require an answer if I am to proceed..."
Despite the situation he could hear you laughing through your nose because you knew how easily ticked off he could become from a conversation with a droid. The laughter was short lived though because the droid was cut off from a blaster being shot at him, and many more guards coming out from all over the place.
The bounty hunter quickly pressed you into a corner and stood in front of you, covering you from any blaster fire. He noticed that you would have to move near the door though, so he acted quickly.
Before he did anything, he asked, "Do you trust me?"
Even through all of the deafening noise, you still heard him.
"Always."
Smirking at that line beneath the mask, he quickly grabbed your arm, placing the gun in your hands.
"Do you remember when I taught you how to shoot?"
"At food cans? Yes. I don't know if I can shoot other people-"
"Y/N they're shooting at you first, this is your defense. Now, the only way we I can cover you is if I carry you and you shoot."
"But-"
"No time to argue," he shouted as he picked you up by wrapping one arm around your back and the other over your legs. "You're a good shot, okay?"
"I'm scared, Lumpy," you whispered, leaning your head on his shoulder.
He squeezed you a bit tighter and looked down. "I know, but it's only until we get to the door, and I'll run as fast as I can-" an explosion came from two pillars down, but he continued.
"-but I'm going to need you to push yourself up a bit so you can see all around, okay?"
When he saw you nod, he stood up, looked all around, and began bolting when he noticed most of the guards had their fire on the IG unit.
Twice he had to quickly swerve his body the other way and crouch when a shot was aimed right for the both of you, but his back had taken the hit both times, and you had shot them down right away.
As soon as he got to the door the Mandalorian sat you down on the ground and took the gun from your hands. He hastily wiped the few tears from your face, but had to get back up and fight when the threat grew exponentially.
When the droid also took refuge behind a pillar about 30 feet away, the firing from the opposing side ceased as more of them came and aimed their guns.
"It appears we are trapped," the droid deadpanned. "I will initiate self-destruct sequencing."
"What," he heard you mumble as you collected yourself and stood up next to him.
"Woah, you're what?" he shouted towards the droid.
"Manufacturers Protocol dictates I cannot be captured," he answered. "I must self-destruct."
"Do not self-destruct," he ordered as he gave you the gun again. "One more time, sweetheart," he whispered to you. Your nod was all he needed for him to shout "Cover me!"
Of course while he was being shot at multiple times and trying to figure out the stupid lock of the stupid door that put them in this stupid situation he had to mentally scold himself.
Oh god, are you stupid? Do you think she noticed the name? Probably not, she seems pretty shaken up. But does that mean anything? Surely not, and it just slipped out, I mean it's not like anybody's going to make it weird- scratch that I will definitely make it weird, ah fu-
He was brought out of his little debate in his head when the keypad got shot at too many times to see what was going on. He quickly hid behind the nearest pillar and pulled the IG Unit with him, looking over at you.
"There's too many of them!" he yelled, and you gave him a playful glare from the other pillar for pointing out the obvious. At least you were more like yourself now.
The Mandalorian pulled out a second gun and tried shooting a few more guys, but it was useless. "They got us pinned."
"I will initiate self-destruct," the droid said again.
Oh for crying out loud. "Do not self-destruct!" he barked at the droid. "We're shooting our way out."
You made eye contact with him and nodded once, ready to fight.
At the same time all three of you stepped out from behind your pillars and pointed your guns out at the enemy. There was a slight problem, though.
"Okay," the bounty hunter deadpanned as he noticed a Nitko behind a very large gun, and quickly went right back behind the pillar as the gunman pushed the trigger.
He checked to make sure you did the same as the shots started very quickly, but luckily the Nitko either couldn't see you are thought that you were less of a target so he only aimed for the Mandalorian and the droid.
"New plan!" the bounty hunter shouted, trying to be heard above the continuous blaster fire.
"Beginning self-destruct countdown," the droid said as he engaged the bomb in his chest.
"No! Stop it!" the Mandalorian scolded. "Draw their fire, I'll take it out!" He then turned to you. "Stay there, and when I say so, duck!"
You gave an awkward thumbs up as you shot another Nitko.
"Go!" he yelled to the droid, who then immediately went right, successfully gaining the attention of the gunman behind the large blaster. The Mandalorian took this as his window and shot out from the pillar, launching his whipcord thrower to wrap around a bar on the floating gun. He pulled on the cord, ripping it out of the gunman's grip and pulling it towards himself. He shot the gunman in the chest, killing him instantly.
The bounty hunter then took his chance and ran to the gun jumping on top of it and screaming "NOW!"
As soon as he noticed you dropped to the ground he began firing the gun, not taking his finger off the trigger and shooting down every Nitko he saw.
He spun the gun in a slow circle to make sure he got everyone, then ceased his fire, panting heavily.
He took one last sweep of the place to make sure he got everyone before he heard a small cry out from behind him. He whipped his head around and made a mad dash towards you, internally scolding himself for letting his blaster fire get near you.
He turned the corner to see you sitting on the ground with a piece of rock from the ricochet of the shots stuck in your left arm.
"Hey, it's okay," the Mandalorian whispered gently as he kneeled beside you. "I have to pull it out and clean it, or it'll become infected."
"Okay," you whimpered as your arm hung lifelessly beside your body.
He made quick work of pulling the rock out and grabbing the disinfectant and bandages from his belt, his heart breaking when you bit your lip to hold back your tears. When he was finished the Mandalorian put one hand under your elbow and the other on your side as he helped you stand up.
"There you go," he mumbled as he caught you with his arm around your waist when you leaned back on him for support.
"It doesn't hurt that much anymore," you sniffled. "I just need a minute."
The both of you turned to see the IG Unit walking towards you with a slight limp. "Well done," it said. "I will disengage self-destruct initiative."
The Mandalorian kept his grip firm on your hip as you spoke. "You know, you're not so bad... for droid."
He could hear you laughing through your nose at that line when the droid responded. "Agreed."
"That blaster hit looks nasty, are you okay?" you asked.
"Running a quick diagnostic." The bounty hunter could hear some whirring and buzzing as it scanned itself, then continued. "It has missed my central wiring harness."
"Is that good?" the bounty hunter question.
You gave him a baffled face and answered, "Yes, dumby, that's good."
"Hey, I'm not smart with that kind stuff," he argued.
You sighed loudly, "Oh believe me, I know. What would you do without me?"
"Crash and burn."
You snickered at that. "Literally, cause you'd be blown up cause you didn't fix your ship right."
"I hate to intrude," the IG Unit deadpanned. "But we need to get that door open."
Collectively the three of you turned to look at the large machine gun, all thinking the same thing.
The Mandalorian then slowly lead you to stand behind the gun and shot around the outer edges of the door. Once he had finished the three of you walked to the door watching it fall into the space it was originally blocking the bounty hunter from.
He had noticed you weren't as dizzy anymore and walked between you and the droid to the door. The three of you stood at the entrance for a few seconds, observing, when a straggling Nitko appeared and aimed to fire at you.
He was too late though because the Mandalorian had already shot him down, leaving him dead on the floor.
"Anyone else?" he asked to the room, and when he deemed it clear you all walked in.
"The tracking fob is still active," the droid said. "My sensors indicate that there is a life form present."
The Mandalorian pulled out his own fob and began scanning the room, following it when the beeping became more aggressive. The fob lead him to a white egg looking thing with a large fishnet resting on top of it.
"Those are used to carry babies, Lumpy," you whispered to him.
The Mandalorian furrowed his eyebrows but continued forward. The beeping of the fob intensified so much that he knew the target was in the baby carriage... thing. He looked over at you and slowly pressed the button to open it.
He heard you gasp as there was, in fact, a baby inside of the egg thingy.
"Wait," the Mandalorian faltered. "They said 50 years old."
"Species age differently," the droid answered. "Perhaps it could live many centuries."
He watched as you carefully made your way forward and cooed at the... whatever it was.
"Oh, Lumpy, look!" you awed as you held your finger out to the tiny body. It had green skin and ears that looked bigger than the rest of it's body. It had big brown eyes and a very small nose. It's tiny 3-fingered hand pushed down the brown blankets it was wrapped in as it made little cooing noises.
You smiled brighter than the Mandalorian had seen in a long time as the baby reached it's hand out to meet yours and grabbed onto the tip of your finger, smiling a little as well.
"Sadly, we'll never know," the droid monotoned as he began to raise his gun at the target.
"What," you asked in a horrified voice as you whipped your head around, though not moving your hand from the baby's grip.
The Mandalorian knew exactly what you were thinking and immediately reached his hand out to the droid's arm.
"No," he said. "We'll bring it in alive."
"The commision was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated," the IG Unit argued as he raised his gun again.
"What, no, Lumpy I thought you said it had to be alive," you countered as you quickly picked up the baby and held it close to your chest. Said child seemed oblivious to the situation as it giggled in your arms and grabbed onto the collar of your shirt.
"It does," he confirmed looking over at the droid.
The second the IG Unit raised it's gun and aimed it at you and the baby the bounty hunter took out his blaster and aimed it right for the droid's head, shooting it and watching it fall to the ground.
He then put his gun away and looked up at you, watching as you slowly began to relax. You then turned the baby in your arms and cradled it's head in the crook of your elbow, you're entire arm being able to hold it close to you.
He noticed a small tear falling down your face as you held the baby and whispered, "Thank you, Lumpy."
The Mandalorian cautiously stepped forward and stopped in front of you, looking at the child that was in your arms. Much like you had done not even 2 minutes ago, he reached his finger out to the baby, and it responded by doing the same.
He glanced up at you and wiped the tear from your face. He held you as best as he could when you fell into his arms, and carefully lead you over to the nearest wall and let you sit on his lap, your head falling on his shoulder.
He held you in his arms while you held the baby, keeping silent even though his thoughts were running a million miles an hour.
Warnings: 8700 words of pure, cheesy fluff, and now that I’m looking back on it, a smidge of angst.
It had been about 4 hours of the Mandalorian sitting in the cockpit slowly slipping into madness as he watched the stars before he went back to check on you. For good measure he punched the target in the face as he walked by, and entered his room where he found you still sleeping peacefully.
There was still at least another day's trip to Coruscant, maybe even longer with his damaged hyperdrive, and the bounty hunter was starting to get tired. But there was no way he was going to wake you up. If you needed sleep, then you could get all the sleep you wanted.
The Mandalorian went back to the bathroom to grab some more antibiotics, this time in pill form, and left them alongside a glass of water on the nightstand. He was hoping they could relieve some of the pain in your shoulder.
After taking one last look to make sure you really were okay, the Mandalorian made his way back to the cockpit where he watched millions of stars zoom by. Again.
About another hour later the bounty hunter heard small footsteps. They were gentle, and seemed to be going quite slowly. The Mandalorian smiled to himself as he guessed it was you walking around in a bit of a daze from your sleep.
His assumption was quickly confirmed when he walked into the main sitting area of the ship and saw you looking around with quite a confused expression.
However, it seemed you had heard him coming because you quickly spun around to face him, grabbing a nearby pipe that had fallen off his speeder. The Mandalorian almost tripped over his feet when you laughed at yourself after coming to the realization that you were safe on his ship.
"Oh, Lumpy, thank goodness it's only you. I was worried I had been taken by those horrible clones."
The Mandalorian shook his head. How was he supposed to tell you that if something happened to you while he could have been there to help you, hed never forgive himself? Thatd hed probably end up doing something very reckless and stupid because he now had to live in a universe you werent in anymore? It was my duty. Yeah, that ought to do it, now she knows you like her. Go me.
Your smile fell. "She told you to help me, didn't she? My Grandma?"
The bounty hunter remained silent, and you nodded.
"Of course she did."
"I think she knew it was coming, she told me before I left that I was to protect you. I hadn't realized she meant so soon."
You nodded again. "Well, nevertheless, I must thank you greatly, again, for this is now the second time you have saved my life."
It was quiet in the room for a minute, before you spoke up again. "You can drop me off wherever you'd like. I have a feeling I'll only get in your way if I stay. I don't want to be any trouble."
"You could never." I said that way too quickly. But it's true. How could something so innocent and gentle ever get in his way?
You smiled again, causing the butterflies in his tummy to start up again. "Even if I wasn't any trouble, I don't think I'd be much help either."
"What are you good at?" Smooth. Real smooth.
You thought for a moment before answering. "Not much. I can cook, clean, and I'm pretty good at mechanics. I used to fix a lot of pod racers and speeders at one of my older jobs. I can learn how to use them pretty quickly, too."
The mechanics was good, because it would allow the Mandalorian to have an excuse at letting you stay with him on the ship. "Well, if you'd like to stick with me, you can."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Nope. "Yeah."
"I won't be in your way?"
"Thats not possible."
"I still don't think I'll be much help to you."
"I won't ask you to do too much. Just maybe do some repairs on the ship while I'm retrieving a target and maybe be my quick getaway."
"I don't know Lumpy, I just don't think you're realizing what you're getting into. I'm not that great."
Oh, he knew alright. It was a terrible idea to bring you along with him, because only the maker knows all of the possible things that could go wrong. And there were quite a few, but they were all his fault because he gets so caught up in everything you do.
"You can stay."
You shook your head. "It's really whatever you want, Lumpy. This is your ship, I cant intrude anymore than I already have. I can't ask to stay with you, you've already done so much for me."
"Do you want to stay?"
The Mandalorian could not believe how much he wanted your answer to be yes. But, at the same time he could, because who wouldnt want you around? He knew, if you said yes, then you were staying, and that was it. If it was no, he would reluctantly yet whole-heartedly respect your wishes and help you start a good life somewhere else.
The bounty hunter let out a small sigh of relief as you quietly whispered, "Yes, I think so."
"Then stay with me."
You glanced up at him still with that look of uncertainty, which drew him closer to you. He took 3 steps forward, each bringing him closer and closer to you. So close you were standing practically chest to chest.
"Stay with me," he whispered. "Please?"
At first he wasnt sure if you heard him, since he knew that whispering under a mask cant exactly be easily understood, until you slowly nodded. "Okay."
The bounty hunter almost let out an enormous sigh of relief, but caught himself at the last second, nodding instead.
"Then it's decided."
After awkwardly standing there for 30 seconds, the Mandalorian cleared his throat.
"I have some clean clothes somewhere around here you can change into. When we get to Coruscant we can get you some new outfits."
You nodded once more. "Thank you, Lumpy."
The bounty hunter was silent as he walked down the hall to his small room. He noticed that you had made the bed, and more importantly had taken the medicine, which he was grateful for.
He went into the small chest at the foot of his bed and rummaged through it, looking for some clothes he thought might fit you. He didn't have many clothes anymore, since all he wears is his armour now.
But, he was able to find a shirt and a pair of pants at the bottom of the chest that looked to be relatively the same size as you. There was also a clean pair of boxers, but he decided he would leave it up to you if you wanted to where them. He wished he could smell them quickly to make sure they were in fact clean (he has no idea when these were washed), but he opted out of taking off the mask, just in case you came in.
He came back to see you sitting on top of the speeder waiting for him.
The Mandalorian handed you the clothes and pointed towards his room. "There's a bathroom right beside my room if you'd prefer that, or you can just change in my room."
You nodded and gave him a gentle smile as you turned to go change in the bathroom. As you were doing that the bounty hunter went back to go sit in the cockpit while he waited for you, and contemplated what he should do.
Theres now going to be an extra body sleeping in the ship, and there werent anymore rooms. He figured he could give you his room while he slept in the speeder or something. After all, hes slept in much worse. He could try finding another ship, but that would probably take too much time, and he wasnt too sure the money he had would be enough.
Hearing you enter the cockpit broke him out of his thoughts, causing him to look up at you. He smiled beneath his mask as he took in your look of wonder, your gaze being on what was outside the ship.
"Wow, I've never been in hyperspace before, you breathed out.
He nodded, recalling your childhood story on how youve been a slave your whole life.
"Actually, I've never been in space before. I've always been stuck on that stupid planet."
The Mandalorian thought for a moment. "Is there a place that you want to go?" He was curious, did you even know of anything outside that planet?
You took a minute to answer. "Well, in one of Grandma's stories she spoke of a planet so beautiful it almost didn't sound real. I'm not even sure if it is real. It was something like canoe.. or baboo... or maybe it was-"
"Naboo?"
Your eyes lit up with recognition. "Yeah, that's it! Wait, does that mean it's a real place?"
He chuckled quietly under his breath. "Yes it is."
"Wow," you sighed. "Grandma said it was the most beautiful place in the whole galaxy."
The Mandalorian turned in his chair to take a look at your full frame. Of course, these had to be some of his clothes. And of course, you had to look good in them. Really good. So good, he felt his throat close up and only let out a very embarrassing wheeze.
The bounty hunter cleared his throat, extremely grateful the mask could cover up just how red his face had gotten, then asked "Are there any other planets your Grandma told you about?" He mentally let out a sigh of relief in that you didnt seem to notice.
"Hmmmmm I can remember a few. Just a couple of days ago she told me about Scarif, which is also really beautiful, but its under Imperial control and theres no way you can go there. There was also Kashyyyk, although that one was told to me by a Wookiee I worked with, oh! There was-"
"Wait, you speak Wookiee?"
You shrugged. "I understand it much more than I am able to actually pronounce the words."
The Mandalorian nodded, when on the inside he felt shock. If you could speak Wookiee, then there definitely some other talents you had. There had to be, and the bounty hunter was ready to know all of them.
"Oh! There's Alderaan, and I remember there's a planet that's like a big swamp, but I can't remember it's name."
He nodded again. "That's Dagobah."
You looked back up at the stars, and the Mandalorian watched you with an amused expression. "How many planets are there? In the whole galaxy, I mean."
The bounty hunter stopped for a moment. "I think theres about 3 million planets we can live on in our galaxy."
He became amused with the shocked expression that took over your face. "Wow. And I've only been on one in my whole life."
Before he could stop himself, the bounty hunter stood up to face you and whispered "I'll take you to anywhere you want to go. Any place, any time." Oh for Petes sake, get a hold of yourself-
"Thank you Lumpy, but I'm not going to ask that of you. You just go where you need to, and Ill do my best to stay out of your way," you whispered back.
The Mandalorian shook his head. You could never be in my way.
---
About a day and a half later the Mandalorian parked his ship on one of the landing pads and turned towards you.
"I'm taking the bounty to an office about 3 blocks from here. It's connected to a restaurant called Nonchaus Pizza Dogs, which I never understood because the only food they sell stuff like burritos, but that's besides the point. If you need anything, I'll be there, but I need you to stay on the ship, just until I deliver the bounty."
"Okay, Lumpy. Do you know how long you'll be gone?"
The Mandalorian stood up and walked past the speeder, towards the target. "No more than 2 hours. After that I can take you around to buy some clothes."
The bounty hunter saw you nod your head out of the corner of his eye. "Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Just stay hidden in the ship. I have to turn off all the power, so it may get a little cold in here. I would take you with me, but I have a feeling it'd be much safer for you if you stayed here."
He saw you nod once more. "Okay."
As he was on his way to untie the bounty, he noticed you went into his room in his peripherals. Curiosity took over him as he slowly stood up and followed you there.
When he got to his room, he leaned against the door frame as he observed you sitting in his bed reading. Recognition flooded his mind as he squinted at the cover of the book, realizing it was the one book he had actually enjoyed reading front to back. "Where'd you get that?"
You looked up at him and smiled. "It was on your dresser," He followed your finger as it pointed to a piece of furniture that was way too small to call it a dresser. An apologetic frown made its way onto your face as you had a thought. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone through your stuff-"
"No no, it's okay. Do you like reading?"
Your frown turned upside down instantly at that question. "Do I?!?" However, the more you thought about it, the more sorrowful you seemed to become, and a sad smile graced your features as you spoke. "Well, I really liked Grandma's stories, and I figured that if they had to be anything like that, they must be amazing. I've only read a few books in my life, and none of them have ever compared to hers. I'm still on the hunt."
The Mandalorian could see you visibly begin to get more upset the more you talked about your Grandma. "If you'd like we can get some books too while you pick some clothes."
You looked up at the bounty hunter, a melancholy smile still present, and he could feel his heart sink a little at your dampened mood. "Thank you, Lumpy."
When he saw you go back to your book, the Mandalorian took one last look back at you (still beautiful, even when upset), before he went to untie the bounty from his ship and deliver it to the client.
He grabbed another bowl of cold water and splashed it on his target's face; he did not want to carry him. At all.
For good measure, kicked the idiot in the stomach, then grabbed the collar of its shirt and stood it up. The client wanted it alive, but didn't say anything about the injuries. If he had to he could just say the guy put up a fight and it was necessary.
He untied it only from the rope that was attached to the ship, and loosened the ones wrapped around his ankles. After shoving it forward, the bounty hunter spoke in a very threatening voice. "Get moving."
The Mandalorian did his best to make the process go as quick and smooth as he as possible. He did not want to keep you in his ship alone and unprotected for longer than necessary. In only an hour and 15 minutes he managed to turn in his target (good riddance), retrieve his reward and obtain another bounty that he would get to after he made sure you had everything you needed.
When he walked back into his ship, he was relieved to see you fast asleep in his bed with the book laying open in your lap.
The bounty hunter gently kneeled next to the bed, dogeared the corner of the page you were on, placed the book on the nightstand, and, after taking a minute to admire the small smile adorning your face from the dream you were having, he rubbed your arm soothingly and whispered "Y/N."
You hummed, and he grinned as he watched your eyes open slowly.
"We gotta go get you some stuff now."
You looked at the clock next to your bed and whispered, "Wow, you were quick."
"I didn't want to keep you waiting long. Come on, let's go."
The Mandalorian got up and exited the room, and when he felt your presence behind him, he continued off the ship, making sure the hatch was closed and turned to face you.
"I'd ask where you want to start, but I have a feeling you have no idea."
You shook your head, confirming the bounty hunter's suspicion. "I just don't think I need much, only a few shirts and pants. I don't want to take up too much room on your ship."
"Okay, well then I have a better idea of where we should go."
"Better than Coruscant? For shopping? But look at all the stores." You emphasized your words by pointing to the hundreds of shops and businesses lit up with their advertisements plastered everywhere.
"I have a feeling that you're gonna like the clothes much better somewhere else."
You giggled at the situation as you re-entered the ship. "If you bring me to some planet filled with armour like yours, I think Im gonna pass."
The Mandalorian chuckled as he answered, "No nothing like that."
Unfortunately, for gas and travelling time purposes, it would take the bounty hunter a whole other day to travel to where he wanted to take you, but he had a feeling it would be worth it.
He noticed that you had finished the book way faster than he ever could, and went to his small storage compartment to grab you more.
When you finished the second book he had given you in just over an hour, the bounty hunter went looking in the very back of his ship. Amidst the pile of old food wrappers, papers of very old targets he kept when his hologram transmitter broke, spare parts he picked up wherever he found them, and many, many, many other things, he found a tabletop version of Dejarik.
The bounty hunter set it out on the top of the small table he had made for 2, and taught you the basics of the holochess game. The two of you spent at least 4 hours duelling at the game, with you snacking on some chips he found and the bounty hunter losing at 95% percent of the games. You cheered in victory at every win, but what seemed to make you laugh the most was when he just sat there in contemplation on what the hell he did so wrong to make him lose again.
He taught you the game hours ago and you were already better than him. But, he as not complaining at all because the friendly competition came with much laughter and many jokes. There were also questions you asked each other, but never that many.
After being in hyperspace for another 22 hours or so, the Mandalorian had finally arrived at the place you mentioned you wanted to see most: Naboo.
Before he entered the planet's atmosphere, he raced towards his room to retrieve you and show you where you were going. He couldn't wait another minute to see the reaction on your face.
When you entered the cockpit, the Mandalorian had a small smile on his face when he heard you gasp. "Wow, Lumpy, it's so... blue, and... green."
"It's Naboo."
The bounty hunter kept in his laugh as you whipped your head around to face him. "Naboo? We're going to Naboo?"
When he nodded, your smile grew tenfold. "Maker, we're going to Naboo!"
He sat back down in the chair to enter the atmosphere of Naboo. After a minute, when the ship was slowly descending onto a landing pad, the bounty hunter felt you wrap your arms around his neck to give him a hug from behind. It was difficult for him to concentrate on keeping the ship steady because all he could focus on was how you were so close to him, yet so far because of his stupid armour.
When you whispered "Thank you, Lumpy," the Mandalorian had to clear his throat to keep his voice from shaking so you wouldn't notice the effect you had on him.
"Of course." The bounty hunter landed his ship at a much slower pace than usual (he definitely was not trying to make the moment last as long as possible), and turned off all of the ship's systems. After he heard you exit the cockpit, he took a deep breath and followed you out, seeing you waiting by the closed ramp.
He grabbed his weapon and opened the hatch, letting the ramp go down so you two could exit.
While you were too busy looking at anything and everything your eyes landed on, the Mandalorian stuck to watching you look on with awe. He had never thought he could feel so happy, yet when he saw the look of excitement on your face, it was really hard to do anything but that. Every once in a while do a sweep to make sure no threats were near, but he mainly focused on you and how wonderful you were.
Before you went shopping for clothes, the Mandalorian brought you to a little inn where he bought a room. He didn't have the intention of taking a nap, however. The room included a bathroom, and that room included shower.
"I don't think we're going to stay very long, but these showers are much better than the one in my ship, so I figured we could get you some clothes after."
Even though these showers still weren't the greatest, they would hopefully make you feel less grimy, because he knew what it was like to get sand everywhere.
The bounty hunter waited patiently on the bed with his weapon in hand as you showered. He could hear you humming a tune to yourself, which had to be your favourite song because this was certainly not the first time he heard the soft melody pass your lips.
Your shower seemed to be on the longer side, but that was understandable. Who knows when your last proper clean was.
He heard the water shut off, and about 5 minutes later you emerged from the bathroom.
Nothing could have prepared the Mandalorian for what he saw next.
You walked out wearing the same clothes he had given you a few days prior, but this time, since your skin was a bit damp making the shirt cling to your figure, highlighting some features that were well hidden behind the baggy clothing.
Your wet hair was let down, framing your face in the most breathtaking way he had ever seen. Your skin glistened with some of the water that didn't get wiped off, and it looked even softer and smoother than it did before.
The dirt that covered your face was now gone, allowing the bounty hunter to perfectly see even the tiniest of details. The bags were still under your eyes, but weren't as prominent as before, probably from all of the sleep you got on his ship. There were a few freckles that he hadn't noticed before dotted around your face. Your eyebrows now had a defined shape since they weren't hidden from the dirt anymore, allowing your expressions to show even more emotion.
Your nose, jawline and cheekbones were more visible and prominent, defining your face in a whole different way. A very good way, he must say.
And, most importantly, you genuinely looked happier. He noticed that you still seemed melancholy, which was understandable, you had just watched your Grandma get shot. But that shower seemed to lighten you up; you stood taller, and carried yourself in a more confident manner.
The Mandalorian started tracing your jawline with his eyes and continuing down your neck, before he realized what he was doing and very quickly looked away. He did not want you to see him staring, completely forgetting that he was wearing a mask and you wouldn't see his eyes anyway.
He cleared his throat and stood up, looking through his pockets to make sure he brought money. He did.
"Wow, Lumpy, I don't think I've felt this clean in all my life. Didn't you say this was just a dingy motel bathroom? That was fantastic."
"Are you ready?"
"Is it okay if my hair is wet?"
The Mandalorian smiled softly under the mask. "Yes."
You nodded. "Then yes, I'm ready."
The bounty hunter lead you out of the motel room and towards the heart of the city. He grinned again as he saw you pause in his peripherals, admiring everything you saw. He turned to face you. "Are you coming?"
You snapped your head towards him, wearing an apologetic smile. Running to catch up with him, you answered, "Yes, I'm sorry."
He chuckled. "You've got nothing to apologize for, I know you're excited."
"Where are we going first?"
"There's a market a few streets from here. We can buy you clothes, and some food for the ship to. And I believe there's a book store just down that way," he stated as he pointed towards his left.
After he saw your nod of agreement, the Mandalorian stayed silent. He found himself enjoying the walking in comfortable silence, though he knew it wouldn't last long. As soon as you got to the little market, the bounty hunter heard your gasp.
"Oh my goodness, there's so many people! And there's so much stuff! Where do I start?" When you looked at him with one of your heart stopping smiles, the Mandalorian had to clear his throat before he responded.
"It seems to go in a circle. Pick a side and we'll make our way around."
You giggled. "Okay."
You chose to go to the left first, opting to make the circle go clockwise.
You looked to the first tent, which had many different types of jewellery covering each of the four tables. He noticed the woman behind the tables was wearing something much different to the simple robes and plain dresses everyone else was wearing.
She wore a bright red two-piece with gold accents, the skirt pooling on the ground. Attached to the neck and waist of the top were small, yet many diamonds and jewels. A red shawl draped over her shoulders to match the outfit, with gold lacing the bottom.
Her middle length hair matched her brown eyes, and her skin was tan from all of the sun that shines in Naboo. She was taller, and the bounty hunter could see beneath her skirt one of her feet poked out, displaying a short red and gold heel.
The necklace she wore seemed to be made of pure diamonds, as did her earrings. He could feel your nerves from a mile away. He wanted to pull you into his arms and assure you that no one else's beauty could even come close to yours. However, he could understand why you would feel intimidated. She looked to be dressed like royalty (which is strange, why would royalty be selling cheap jewellery in a tiny flea market?). You probably thought she looked like a goddess because you had never seen an outfit so... expensive.
"Look, one of her earrings looks like it costs more than my entire life. They're beautiful. She's beautiful. Look at her hair, it's like the wind is bowing before her feet, it's so magical. Wow." The Mandalorian didn't think you realized that you were whispering these things out loud, but he smiled nonetheless. Bingo.
When he laughed through his nose at your words, you turned him and gave him a confused stare. "What? I'm serious, Lumpy, look at her hair! The wind is just" as you were saying this you were making motions with your hands and hair, making it look like it was flowing beautifully like in those unrealistic commercials you had seen in the bar at times to emphasize your point.
He laughed again before he gently nudged you toward the woman. "Go on, I'll be back here if you need me."
The Mandalorian watched with amusement as you slowly made your way up to the woman behind the small tables.
"Hello."
She looked up and beamed. "Hi, how can I help you?"
You froze for a minute, which made the bounty hunter's eyebrows furrow. He was about to step up and encourage you it was okay before he heard you say, "You're beautiful."
The girl giggled and replied, "Thank you, but I don't think I can compare to you."
You gave her a look of bewilderment, which made the Mandalorian almost laugh out loud. "Me?"
"Yes, you! You don't have to wear fancy clothes to look nice! You should see me in the morning when I first wake up, my hair's all over the place, my eyes are all crusty and, you know that bit of that dry saliva on the corner of your mouth? Yeah, that's me every morning."
You laughed and responded with "Can't be as bad as smelling like old people all the time and having sand down your bra literally every minute ever. And that sand goes everywhere."
The girl smiled and stuck out her hand. "I'm Hana."
You grinned and took her hand, making the Mandalorian happy you made a friend.
"Y/N."
"What brings you to Naboo?"
You glanced back at the Mandalorian, which yet again made him feel weak in the knees (he's gotta find a way to fix that), then answered Hana.
"I need some new clothes. All of my old ones got wrecked."
The girl's face lit up like she had just won the lottery. "Oooooo, girl shopping. D'you mind if I tag along? There's not much going on here anyways."
You nodded furiously, which made Hana laugh again. "I have no idea what I'm doing. Oh, wait." You turned back to the bounty hunter and asked him, "Lumpy, can Hana help me pick out some new clothes?"
He gave you a small thumbs up, and felt the butterflies flutter when you giggled at his actions.
The Mandalorian followed you around for 2 hours after that. He kept his distance, and was constantly on high alert. His eyes kept sweeping over the entire area to ensure there was no danger, though he did find himself getting distracted by many of the things that you did:
The look of awe with every new tent you approached. The look of surprise, yet giddiness you felt when Hana linked your arms together (he made a mental note that you liked this, since you seemed to always go back to this position with her). The little scrunch your nose did every time you saw a piece of clothing you didn't like. The small laugh you did when Hana made a joke, no matter how corny and terrible it was. The annoyed glances you gave when your hair flew into your face from a particularly harsh gust of wind, and the look of wonder you gave Hana when you asked how the wind made her look better and you a child that's rolled around in a sandstorm for the better part of 6 days.
Each and every small quirk made his heart swell that much more. When you put back every item you thought cost too much, thinking the bounty hunter didn't notice. (He did.) The look of disbelief on how delicious the food you ate for lunch was, even though Hana kept insisting it wasn't even that good. The look of surprise you gave when a little girl in a purple dress came up to you and gave you a flower. The small tear that ran down your cheek when you bent down and gave her a tight hug. The laughter that was contagious when a small band came to the market and Hana taught you how to dance one of the traditional Naboo dances.
The thing that the Mandalorian will never, ever forget was when you tried on a dress.
"No, Hana, that's way too much."
"Just try it on, just for fun." Both he and Hana could see how you kept glancing back at it, a look of wanting upon your face every time your eyes made contact with the dress.
Reluctantly you went behind a privacy screen to get changed, and the Mandalorian turned to Hana. "What are you doing down here."
He knew that she wasn't just some pedestrian trying to sell some old things for money, and he was curious as to why on earth a person of hierarchy would be down here.
Hana shrugged. "My sister's the queen, and I get sick of all the prim and proper bull everyone expects me to do. So, my Grandma and I make jewellery and once a month I come out here to give them to anyone that wants them. Normally I would wear less noticeable clothing, but... I don't know."
After a minute, she raised an eyebrow. "And what are you doing here? This doesn't seem like your kind of scene."
The bounty hunter's voice got quiet. She was right, a Mandalorian is never usually even seen with a person, let alone following one like a lost puppy. "She said she'd never been, and she really wanted to come here. Her Grandma used this place as the paradise in her stories."
Hana nodded, and seemed hesitant as she asked her next question. "And why is she with you?"
"There was an attack in her hometown, and I got her out."
Hana contemplated her next words before deciding to just bite the bullet. "Doesn't seem like the Mandalorian type to save a damsel in distress."
"She's much more than a damsel in distress."
"And that's why you won't let her go?" The bullet has now been bitten.
Before the bounty hunter could respond, you stepped from behind the screen. The Mandalorian did a double take, and he thought he was going to pass out. You seemed shy and uncertain, but man oh man, did you look angelic.
The dress was what seemed to be (Y/F/C), because this colour was a common occurrence in most of the clothing you picked. The dress was fitted at the top, hugging you in all the right places (though he could tell that the front went a bit lower than you were used to). There were thin straps on your shoulders that held the dress up, and the diamonds that covered the top portion sparkled in the sunlight.
The bottom portion of the dress was made of a material the bounty hunter had no clue of what the name was, but it looked silky smooth and was loose, flowing all the way to the ground in the most elegant way. Your hair had long since dried and curled just a bit, framing your face gracefully.
When you turned around the Mandalorian gasped so hard he started coughing, as he noticed there was a slit on one side of the dress that went up to your mid thigh, and your back was completely exposed. He saw the wound from the shot you got a few days ago was starting to look less red and angry, which relieved him quite a bit.
When you turned back around to face him, he was speechless. No amount of words could ever describe how stunning you looked to him. He was grateful when Hana spoke up because he could not.
"Y/N... oh my god, you look fantastic! Look at you!" she squealed and ran up to you, playing with your hair and asking you to turn a few times, showering you with compliments and oooos and aaaahs while you just giggled and shrugged, looking as though you didn't deserve her praise.
"I don't know... it seems a bit much. What do you think, Lumpy?"
Well, shoot.
"Uhm, uh- I-I-It looks- It looks, good, yeah, it looks good." Maker, I stutter now too?
The Mandalorian could see as Hana rolled her eyes and mocked him. "Looks goo- Y/N, you could outshine the Queen, oh my god."
"Stop it, I could not."
Oh yes you could, and the bounty hunter knew it. If only he could come up with the words to tell you too, but instead he was a blubbering, and quite frankly embarrassing mess.
"Yes you could, now lets go." Hana demanded as she pulled you by your elbow.
"Wha- go where? I have to take the dress off."
She snickered. "Just wear it for now. We need to show you off." She looked to the woman behind the table selling it. "Aurora, can she wear the dress around town? We'll bring it back."
When Aurora nodded, Hana linked your arms again and started pulling you towards her tent. "Come with me, I have the perfect necklace that would match."
The Mandalorian waited 30 seconds after you left before walking towards Aurora. She was an older woman, with olive wrinkled skin and grey hair pulled back into a braid.
"How much for the dress?"
"What currency do you have?"
The bounty hunter emptied his pockets and looked at what was left in his hand. "All I've got left is Corellian Credits."
"I'll give it to you for 1000."
"1000! That's outrageous, my armour costs less than that-"
"1000 credits. These clothes were made for the Queen, and she simply doesn't want them anymore."
"I hardly think the Queen is in need of any more money-"
"1000 credits, boy. No more, no less."
The bounty hunter sighed and looked down at the ground, thinking. He just got the reward of 2500 from the last target, and he figured if he got the next job done quick enough he could fix his ship with the reward from the next bounty. He'd need to be careful with his spending on fuel for the ship when he went to pick some up.
After a minute of staring at the ground, cursing the woman who sat behind the table with a nasty little smirk, he looked up and saw you, giggling and twirling in the dress, looking the happiest he thinks he's ever seen you.
He hung his head low as he started counting out the money, knowing full well that if that dress was 10 000 credits he'd still find a way to make it yours. He counted his blessings though because he was very thankful with was not 10 000 credits.
The Mandalorian sighed again and gave her the correct amount.
"Thank you," she said after placing the money in her little tin and grinning at him with a knowing smile.
He responded only by getting as far away from Aurora as possible before he made a rash decision, and instead chose to focus on you under Hana's tent. His heart beat a bit faster when he saw the smile on your face after Hana did indeed find a matching necklace, a pair of earrings and a clip pinned to the top of your head.
When you noticed the Mandalorian walking towards you, you giggled and ran up to him. "Lumpy, look what Hana gave to me! Aren't they nice?"
He hummed in response, allowing you to turn back to the woman in red, your back nearly pressed against the bounty hunter's chest. He did his very best to stay still because he knew if you got any closer, you would be able to hear his heart beating out of his chest. "Oh my goodness, are you sure Hana? This seems like too much."
She dismissed your words instantly with a flick of her hand. "Please, I made them to give to someone, and they look perfect on you."
"I bought the dress," he mumbled, hoping if he said it quietly enough you wouldn't be able to hear him.
To his misfortune you totally did hear him and whipped around to meet the Mandalorian's gaze so quickly you tripped over your own feet. He reached out and caught you by your hips swiftly, cursing himself and trying not to pay too much attention to what he did as you whispered, "What?"
He swallowed, steadying you as your arms rested on his shoulders and he repeated, a bit louder this time, "I bought the dress."
He frowned when you started shaking your head. "No, no Lumpy I don't need the dress, go get your money back, really, I don't need it-"
"Y/N."
Tears started trickling down your face as you continued, not hearing the Mandalorian in your ramble. "- it's just a silly dress, I probably won't even wear it that much so it'll be a waste to buy it, please, go get your money back-"
"Y/N." He kept his voice gentle, but still pressed on.
"-let me go get changed, and I'll put it back on the table-"
"Y/N!" He cupped your face with both of his hands, effectively silencing your ramble. He wiped your tears with his thumbs as he whispered, "The dress is yours."
He sighed in relief as you went on your tiptoes and wrapped your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly hugged him. He snaked his arms around your waist and squeezed lightly as you mumbled a "Thank you."
"Of course." He replied in a voice so soft he though you might not have heard him, but the Mandalorian realized you did as you squeezed just a bit tighter.
When you stepped back, the Mandalorian couldn't help but follow you for a split second before retreating, not wanting to let go of you just yet. He held himself back though, because this was not the time, nor the place.
"Hana, thank you so much for your help."
The girl being spoken of shook her head. "It was fun. I have to go for a few minutes, but I think you need to see something before you go. Just walk down that street for a few minutes and you'll find it. Also, don't leave without saying goodbye!"
She ran down an alleyway in the opposite direction that she pointed, and you linked arms with the Mandalorian as you pulled him along. "Come on!"
He was glad you were feeling happy again, because he couldn't stand the thought of you being sad, especially since he was the main cause.
The walk you shared was silent, but comfortable as you enjoyed the presence of one another and the noise of busy people from all around.
---
Hana was right. Not even 10 minutes of walking down the direction she pointed the alley ended, and it opened up to a massive field, filled with grass and flowers of all different colours. The field seemed to go on forever to the left and right, but straight ahead, what looked to be about a mile away, were massive waterfalls.
The Mandalorian smiled lightly beneath the mask as he heard your gasp of excitement, "Oh, Lumpy, look!"
He lead you forward, towards the water, but kept his eyes on you to take in the look on your face. The pure joy that emanated off you was contagious, and it made him want to scoop you up and carry you away into the sunset forever.
The sun did nothing but damage to him to make him sweat in his armour, but it made your skin glow and your hair shine, so he was not complaining at all.
When you were close to the edge of the water you ran forward, and the Mandalorian watched as you knelt down and put your hands in. You giggled as you did so and looked up at him.
"It's much colder than I expected."
"It's a lot of water, and there's not that much to heat it up." The Mandalorian grinned under his mask as he got an evil idea and slowly bent down, dipping one of his hands in the water.
You laughed again. "Okay, smarty pants, but just so you know-" you were effectively cut off with a gasp as the Mandalorian reached his hand in the water and splashed a small bit onto your face.
He actually laughed out loud, and really hard too as you tried to look at him angrily while wiping your face.
"Hey! That's no fair! It's not like I can even get you back, your protected by your armour!"
He laughed even more as you still splashed some water onto him, satisfied that you at least managed to get him even though it had no effect whatsoever.
The two of you laughed some more while splashing each other, and you pointing out even the smallest of details that made you excited.
The bounty hunter sat back on the grass as he witnessed you gasp again and run over to one of those gigantic rhino things. He was shocked when it let you run straight up to it and start petting it. You giggled as you gently stroked it's head, humming the same tune you did in the shower earlier.
The Mandalorian was feeling very conflicted. As much as he wanted you to stay with him, he knew that you belonged somewhere much nicer. You deserved a place that gave you unlimited happiness without the fear of getting hurt.
This was a very nice place, and now that you made a friend, he knew that you could stay with Hana. She could take care of you much better than he ever could. She was royalty, after all, and she could provide so much more.
He knew that was what Hana was implying when she was asking her questions earlier, and it made sense. It didn't seem fair to make you come along with him to a war zone when you could be safe amongst new family and friends.
And she was hinting that it wouldn't be a bad thing if she stayed here instead.
As much as he hated it, he knew that this was the better option for you. So that's what he offered.
"Do you like it here?"
After you nodded in confirmation, the Mandalorian continued.
"Maybe you should... stay here."
You snapped your head around to face him, about to interrupt him right there, but the bounty hunter only pressed on. "You would be much happier here, and much safer, and you have Hana now, you could stay with her. She can help you live the life you were supposed to live, not one filled with the constant fear of 'am I going to make it through today.'" He paused, catching his breath. "I wish I could make this your everyday, but it can't be. It's going to be dangerous and serious, and not beautiful and safe, and-"
"Lumpy, stop!" That shut him up instantly, but he needed to convince you to stay here. It was for the better. "I'm not leaving you! I love it here, but I don't think I could live like this everyday! I like the excitement that comes with you, the adventure, the many places I'm gonna get to see! I know it's going to get rough at times, and we're both probably going to get hurt at some point, but I don't care. Unless... you want me to stay because you want me gone?"
He shook his head quickly, "No, it's not that I don't want you with me, I do, but-"
"Then it's settled." For emphasis you took his masked head between your hands and pressed your forehead against his. Not caring about the tears running down your cheeks again, you continued. "You asked me to stay with you. I'm staying."
The bounty hunter started shaking his head again, feeling the after begin to pool in his eyes as well. "I don't want you to get hurt," he mumbled quietly so voice wouldn't crack.
"I think it would hurt a lot more if you left without me."
The Mandalorian sighed. He was about to begin protesting again when you whispered, "Please, Lumpy."
Why did you have to be so stubborn? Why did you have to be so good? Why did you have to make him want to give you everything you've ever wanted, and more? Why did you have to make it impossible to say no to?
"Okay." The smile that you gave him in return was already making him agree with his decision.
"Thank you."
The high you gave him would have been bone crushing if he wasn't head to toe in bullet proof armour, and it seemed you had noticed that too.
---
"Grandma was right, it really does feel lumpy."
When you walked back to the little market, the bounty hunter saw Hana standing in her tent again. Her face lit up as she saw you walking towards her. "Well, did you see it?"
You nodded in excitement, "We did, and it was amazing!"
She beaned and walked around the table. "I'm glad you thought so."
Your smile had started to go a little flat as you walked up to her and gave her a hug. "Thank you so much for everything you've done, but we have to go now."
The Mandalorian watched as she nodded and gave you a squeeze back. "Of course. Please come back and visit, I don't have too many normal people in my life." You giggled as you stepped back and wiped a stray tear from your face.
He held out his elbow to you, which you gladly hooked your arm through. He gave a curt nod towards Hana, causing her to nod back in reply, and gave a small wave to you as you started to walk back to the ship.
The walk back was once again silent, but the bounty hunter had a feeling it was because you had been reflecting on your day. "Thank you for taking me here, Lumpy. It truly was one of the best days of my life."
He hummed back as you climbed up the ramp to his ship and went into his room.
The bounty hunter assumed it was because you were putting all the clothes you bought away to be washed, and started up the ship. He heard the door open as you stepped in, and could see you admiring the view as the ship rose up into space.
When the bounty hunter put the ship into hyperspace, there was silence for a few minutes.
It was more than likely because you both came to the realization that your lives were never going to be the same ever again. This had happened to both of you, a long time ago.
The only difference is that this time, your lives were changing for the better.