The Mandalorian's Slave

Old Friends

Aster has been avoiding me. I don't blame her. I don't know what to say. I hardly know what to do. A small portion of my brain is in autopilot as I fly the ship to our destination. It's the only thing keeping me sane.

This is a foolish plan. It's dangerous and risky. But fuel isn't cheap. Food isn't cheap. And running from an army of bounty hunters certainly isn't cheap either.

But still, I'm nervous. Not for myself. I overcame my fear of pain and death for myself a long time ago. I'm scared for Aster and the Child. If something goes wrong, they're left without help. Aster will be sold and the Child will be turned in for a handsome reward.

I need to make a plan. But to do that, I need to talk to Aster. Usually, she'd be sitting in my passenger seat, staring at the stars in wonder as if they all didn't look the same. The cockpit seems so much colder without her in it.

I get up. This isn't going to be easy. But I need to do this.

I wish I didn't care about Aster, or her feelings. Things would be so much easier. But I care. So much that hurting her is worse that hurting myself.

Aster is curled under a blanket. She's awake, but her dark eyes are staring off into nothing. She's wearing extra clothes now, with a cardigan wrapped tightly around her shoulders as if to make up for earlier. Or perhaps she's just cold. She's not used to space like I am.

"We've got a job." I don't know what else to say. She looks up at me, anger and betrayal flashing in her eyes.

"We? Or you?" Her tone is innocent but her words cut deep. There's no we. Not when I keep ruining it.

"Me." Two can play this game. "It's dangerous though. Much more dangerous than the last one. That's why you need to hide in the lower level. I can't risk them seeing you or the Child."

"You don't want to be betrayed again." Aster stands up, pulling the blanket around her and the Child, nearly completely hidden in her arms.

"Yes. And the people I'm working with are known to put money before anything else." I begin walking toward the lower level, glancing over my shoulder to make sure she's following me.

"What kind of people are they?" Aster looks everywhere but at me.

"Old friends." I open the closet.

"I didn't know you had friends." She hovers near the doorway.

"I have you." The words slip out before I can think about them. Her gaze turns harsh.

"We're not friends. You're my Master and I'm just a slave." Aster turns and crawls into the closet. She manages to do it in a regal way, making it seem like some sort of dramatic exit. Or maybe it's dramatic because of the way my heart sinks.

"I'm sorry." I don't know what else to say.

"No. I apologize, Master." Aster's voice is a cold sneer. "I was distracting you from your messages. I'm glad everything worked out for you, despite me being in the way."

"Don't do this, Aster. What happened was a mistake," I warn, but I'm cut off.

"You're right. It was a mistake. Every single moment. So we'll forget about it, just like the last time. Don't worry, you can still have an excuse this time. Let's see, what should we blame it on? Heat exhaustion?" The look in her eyes scares me. She doesn't fear repercussions, or anything. Aster looks broken. And I'm the one who did the breaking.

"I have no excuse. Not for how I treated you."

Aster looks at me. Really looks at me. As if my helmet weren't there and she could see past everything. She absentmindedly traces a finger around the Child's head.

"It doesn't matter. I forget my place." Her voice is deflated. It's void of the usual spunk and fire. In it's place is the voice of the girl I first met, the one cowering in the manor.

So much has changed since then. Aster's strange abilities have only gotten stranger. The Child possesses them too. But other things have changed as well.

Like how I can't fall asleep unless I know she's safe. Or like how she's the first thing I check one when I wake up. Or the way my body aches to pressed up against hers.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bounty hunter. I don't give a fuck about 'places' or what's proper. All I care about is what I want. And I what I want is you."

Tears are running down her face now. I want to reach forward and hold her, but I'm scared. I may have pushed her too far away for the final time.

"Please. Go." Aster wipes at her tears furiously. "This will never work. For so many reasons. You've got your code. You're a bounty hunter who doesn't let people tie you down. I'm a slave. To think anything could happen between us is ridiculous."

"I'm a Mandalorian. We're all supposed to dead. I thrive on the impossible. I've been considered a dead man more times than I can count. Yet I'm here. You were supposed to be a slave stuck on Jakku. Yet you're here. We're together because somehow the stars aligned. I don't want anything, ridiculous or not, to keep us apart." I'm surprised by the fierceness in my tone. The words are spilling out of me, and I can't stop them. Maybe I'm not a true Mandalorian for saying them. But I don't care. Not now, when Aster has shown me there's so much more to life than killing and waiting for the next job.

"I'd like a chance to be with you, Aster. Please. Let's try to make this work." I reach out and grab her hand lightly. She doesn't pull away.

"I think that's the most I've ever heard you speak." There's a glimmer of that usual playful light in her eyes.

"It'll be the most you hear for a while. We're getting close. Time to meet up with some old friends."