Opposites [ Mandalorian x Reader ] 04
The sun was just beginning to peek over the edge of the dunes when Mando started up his ship. It rumbled under you as it began its ascent into the air and journey into the stars. It was strange as the ship began to sail in the sea of stars. Everything was dark up here. An ocean of an abyss filled with gem shards of stars. Your eyes scanned the vast landscape before you, hands gripping the armrests lightly to contain your excitement. It was everything you had dreamed about and more. "Have you never seen stars before?" Mando's gruff voice broke the silence, only stealing your attention away for a moment before you were focusing back on the stars.
"From the ground but never this close up. It is amazing."
"Are you telling me-" The chair turned to face yours, armored arms crossed over his beskar chest, "-that you have never been on a ship flying before? You said you were a skilled mechanic. Did you lie to me? I can still go back down to that sand-covered hole you call home and go on without you."
"No! I mean, I haven't but I've worked on a lot of ships before. They just...didn't fly. I could get them to turn on and I could have flown them if I knew how. I'm a mechanic, Mr.Mando, not a pilot. I never lied to you." Sitting up straight, you looked at where you assumed his eyes were. You wouldn't let his Mandalorian act get to you. He wanted you to feel intimidated, yet for a man to take in a băiat (baby boy), he couldn't be that terrible. You had been told you trusted people too quickly but you didn't let their words stop you. "Don't call me Mr.Mando." With the huff, he spun his chair back to focus on the controls. There was an alto pilot for backup at the moment but he still was plotting a course to find the next best planet to go to. You didn't care where he wanted to go as long as he took you away from your planet. What would you see? What was out there that you had never seen? Just the thought excited you. With one final glance at the vast unknown in front of you, you turned your attention to the newest book you had found. When you went scavenging, it was a rare treat to find pieces of literature. Sometimes they would be manuals or fiction but this was different. This was a notebook or diary someone had filled in. It was the first time you had ever found something like this. It was covered in wreckage from the ship when you found it but after a good brushing over, the only hint to the past was the aged pages and slightly worn cover.
The coffee-colored pages were held together by a leather cover with what looked to be two swords crossing on the cover. There was no way for you to tell how old it was. You had flipped through it quickly when you first found it and there weren't any dates listed. Perhaps it would be hidden in the entries and you could figure it out yourself. If there were any big or famous events, you should be able to put a small timeline together. The time didn't matter in reality. You had simply taken the book because it seemed interesting. There was nothing you were expecting to learn, unlike the other manuals you had taken from other ships.
As you opened the journal, you could feel how rough the pages were against your fingers. It had to be at least ten years old, probably older. You were surprised that it had lasted with how it looked to be on its last leg. A few more years and it may have begun to wear away, leaving broken pages and a worn leather cover. Who knows what kind of secrets would have been lost if you hadn't found it? Your eyes began to scan over the words, escaping into the diary to allow the Mandalorian the quiet which he seemed to prefer. The only time he did was when he reprimanded you. You pushed those thoughts to the side, making yourself focus on what was written on the pages. -Entry One-
I'm not sure why I'm writing this.
I've never kept a diary before but now I have so much I can't tell others. It is not due to a lack of trust per se but I know that I will only end up being scolded or taught some deep lesson if I do say anything. I could always talk to Skyguy about some of this stuff but he already has so much on his plate. I've ranted to R2 but it is still a lot different ranting to him. I know he is way smart and advanced for a droid but he still is a droid. Plus, what if he goes and tells Master? I can't risk that happening. It's nothing serious, I don't think anyway. R2 said it was just girl troubles and normal as I started to reach puberty. Yuck! Just the idea of R2 knowing and understanding puberty feels weird...Like he is a textbook of what happens during it. He can't fully understand how it feels. Robots don't go through puberty...Do they?
Anyway, he probably is right. There aren't many other fourteen-year-olds fightings in the rebellion. Plus, I am surrounded by guys all the time! There was the rare occasion of seeing Padme or some of the other female rebels but most of the time it is all guys. If I did have any questions, how could I ask them!? I'm not changing that much, right? I should just write down some of my questions about that and ask the next time Padme is around. She seems close to Master so she tends to pop up unexpectedly. I can feel how much he trusts her. I trust her, though I don't spend that much time with her. Still, she has some type of maternal aura around her when I'm near? Is it because she is so used to dealing with C3PO? That would be a handful. I'm glad we have R2 instead.
I also have some questions about the Jedi but I don't dare ask any of them just yet. Maybe I can ask Skyguy one day but not now. I just...Recently there was an attack and it was unknown if there were any survivors that needed help. Obi-wan said it was too risky to do a search and believed we should have left them. How could he think like that? They are a part of this rebellion as much as we are. I know he is just worried but is that how a Jedi is supposed to feel? I've heard him scolding Master at times for being so close to R2. Jedi's don't make attachments. Like, seriously? Why is that a rule we are supposed to follow?
Master doesn't think like that. It's hard to figure out what he believes because he always pretends when he wants to do something that Obi-wan doesn't believe in. He agreed about the search mission at first but once we left the base, he decided we had to go and find them. Does he get how confusing that is? He calls me reckless at times but he is thinking the same thing. He just acts like that because I'm younger than him. That has to be it.
I know both of them are good people but I just can't understand why they aren't as willing to take chances. We are the Jedi. We help people, it's what we do. Right? I'm not so sure anymore what we are supposed to stand for.
It's so confusing. I just want to help people and take down the bad ones. That sounds simple enough. Maybe it is just because they're old and need a young person to remind them what we need to do. They praised my determination for the search mission after it was all done. That has to be a good sign. Yet I dare not ask these questions yet and risk my padawanship. I still have so much to learn before I can do anything to help. I'm going to change the Jedi way one day. No one is going to have to follow those stupid rules...Oh, Gods, I'm starting to sound like Master now. Was he this way when he was a Padawan? Maybe we are more alike then I think.
As the entry drew to a close, you heard cooing and felt the child climbing up your leg to get on your lap. You had wondered where he was when the ship first took off. You assumed he was off taking a nap somewhere, maybe he was. Kids need a lot of sleep when they are that young. Well, when they are in that life-stage anyway. You couldn't call this child young when he was as old as your grandfather. It was interesting to see in person how different races can differ in such important life matters such as aging.
Shutting the book and placing it aside, you turned your attention to the little green ball of energy. With how he was acting, he just woke up from a nap and was ready to play. You doubted that the Mandalorian played with him a lot. He seemed to even keep himself from touching the little thing as much as possible. Did he not want to get attached? Just like in the entry, did he believe he couldn't form attachments?
To you, that was utter nonsense. Your people put relationships, platonic or romantic, above everything else in your beliefs. Being raised that way had made you able to express your feelings easily and let people know that you cared about them. Did this tough warrior have anyone? Did he ever have someone? This life seemed one filled with loneliness and solitude. As you had gotten on the ship, it was easy to figure out he was a bounty hunter with the carbonite freezer he had. Finding this kid was good for him...Who could keep themselves from getting close to the baby? He was so cute and adorable. You loved children to begin with but this one was the cutest you had ever seen. It hit those evolutionary instincts to take care of him with those big eyes. It was easy enough to entertain the child since he found your fingers to be just as interesting as any toy he could have. His tiny hands reached up and grasped at your fingers which threatened to tickle him. Could he laugh? You were curious if he was just like a normal baby in that regard. That was a question that deserved to be experimented on. His cooing was adorable enough that it would only make sense that his giggle would be too.
Your attention was drawn away from the diary you had read. There would be time later when he went back to taking a nap that would give you time to think. Still, it was hard to ignore one piece that you had read in the ink dried from years past. A ringing question that seemed to stick in your brain even as you idly played with the green jellybean: What was a Jedi?