THE ARC OF SKYWALKER | a star wars story✔️

25 | jealousy

—DIN WANTED TO GET THE BOUNTY AND LEAVE. Toro annoyed him and to make matters worse, he flirted with Asa. He didn't understand why jealousy fueled an intense rage when he saw the woman get up close to Toro and, thankfully, falsely flirt back. All Din wanted to do in that moment was yank him away from her and have Asa to himself and be the one she was flirting with. He wanted her to be his...but he also wasn't the possessive type.

Why am I feeling like this?

Din hated the feeling, but there was a small part of him that felt different toward Asa. It was more than friendship that he felt. It was more than seeing her as a partner or mother figure to the child. He...liked Asa. He liked her more than a friend, and it terrified him.

"So, Mando, any chance you could put a good word in for me with that lovely lady you travel with? What was her name again? Casa? Cassandra?" Toro asked when they stopped on their speeders and examined a riderless bantha a few hundred feet ahead of them.

"Asa's not interested." Din replied harshly and looked out across the sand dunes to examine the bantha.

"You sure? I mean, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but—"

"Again, she's not interested. You wouldn't last a day with her anyway."

Toro gave Din a weird look before looking out with his macro-binoculars too. Right as he turned to the left, he came face to face with a Tusken Raider. The being shouted and went to swing at the rookie bounty hunter but Toro fell back. Din stepped forward, waving his arms to get the Raider's attention, before using the sign language of the Raider. Toro stood up, clutching his macro-binoculars to his chest as he watched the silent exchange.

"What're you doing?" Toro asked in a panicked tone.

"I'm getting us passage across the Dune Sea." Din replied as he signed.

The Raider nodded before asking for payment...which happened to be Toro's binoculars. Din nodded to the raider before facing Toro.

"You said those were new, right? Let me see them."

"Yeah—Hey! Those were brand new!"

"They were." Din tossed the object to the Raider and nodded to him in thanks. The Mandalorian walked to the speederbike and got on. Toro grumbled to himself as he got on his and the two were off again.

~*~

When the night came, Toro and Din set up behind a large sand dune. Ahead in the canyons was their bounty, Fennec Shand. She had the area scoped out and was on the look out for them. Earlier that evening, she sniped Din in the chest but his beskar blocked the fatal shot.

Din looked up at the sky, his thoughts wandering to Asa yet again. He wondered how she and the kid were doing while he was out here with a rookie and trying to get his bounty for money. He imagined her voice talking to him, the sound of it being like angel song and soothing like the warmth of the sun. He imagined her smile, especially the one she had whenever she played with the child.

What the hell are you doing, Din?

He knew attachments weren't allowed according to his Creed, but Din didn't care at the moment. All he wanted to do was get back to the Crest with his money and get off this planet.

"You know," Toro began to monologue, "once this all over, I might see if Asa will want to stay with me."

Oh, kid, if only you knew who she was, Din thought with feigned pity and sat there motionless.

"When she was in my face, I could make out how she smelled. It was a mix of mint and leather. And that scar on her cheek? Reminds me of a shooting star."

There's that jealousy again. Din felt his chest tighten and a rush of anger surge through him. He hated that he got this way because of some guy hitting on Asa. Hell, he didn't even realize he would get like this when a man flirted with her. Why did he have to have feelings?

"How about you, Mando? What's your opinion on her? I assume you find her attractive. It's why you keep her around right? Keep her for some one-time fling or for pleasuring? I don't blame you. I'd rather—"

"You done?" Din snapped, his anger building up inside his chest as he glared daggers at Toro. The young man jumped back a little and chuckled from being startled. All Din wanted to do was punch him in the stomach and leave him heaving in the sand for disrespecting Asa. No one disrespected Din's partner like that. He wouldn't stand for it.

"Yeah, yeah, I am." He said, clearing his throat before changing the subject. "What's the plan?"