Yay Road Trip

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The ride back to Navarro is too short. I can't stop pacing, praying some other alternative will come our way.

I'm nestled in a corner, petting the blurrgs as the Mandalorian and Cara Dune arm wrestle. I glance over at them occasionally. They're a good match together. My mouth sours at the thought.

I run my fingers over the dry skin on the blurrgs. It grunts happily, pleased to receive some attention.

My head snaps up. I whirl around. I feel something. I don't know how to describe it. It's like a strange, tingly awareness.

Cara is clutching her throat, desperately trying to claw at an invisible assailant. She chokes and gasps, her face turning a slight shade of purple.

The Mandalorian is confused, searching for the attacker. Then I spot it: the Child raising his hand up. 

"Hey, stop it." I rush toward the Child's side, but the Mandalorian is closer.

"We're friends! Cara is my friend," he says desperately, grabbing the Child.

The feelings disappears just as quickly as it came. Cara sucks in a deep breath.

"That is not ok," she snarls, pointing an accusatory finger at the kid.

"Can you do that?" The Mandalorian glances at me.

"I don't know," I admit. I know nothing about the strange powers that I seem to have.

"Hmm. Very curious." Kuiil hobbles closer to us.

"Curious? It almost killed me!" Cara whips her head to glare at me. "If the Mandalorian is right, she could kill us at any time."

"I've never hurt anyone." That isn't necessarily true, but Cara doesn't need to know that.

"The story you told me of the mud-horn now makes more sense."

"What are they?" The Mandalorian speaks as though I'm not there. As though I'm something other.

"What the Child is, I don't know. What but they do, this... this I've heard rumors of."

"What, when you worked for the Empire?" Cara's voice is a snarl.

"When I was sold to the Empire, in indentured servitude."

"Yet somehow, you walk free." Cara stands up, her muscle taut.

"I bought my freedom through the skill of my hands and the labor of three of your human lifetimes. Do not cast doubt upon that of what I am not whom I shall serve."

The tension in the room is palpable. No one speaks for a moment, violence crackling through the air.

"Tell you what, I could really use your skill right now. Can you pad this so the Child can sleep better?"

"I shall fabricate a better one," Kuiil promises. "Then perhaps this Dropper can see how one can win their freedom with the skill of one's hands."

Kuiil hobbles away and I retreat to an uninhabited part of the ship. I don't want to be around or any of them.

I can't win my freedom like Kuiil did. I don't exactly have three human lifetimes to spare. But, I'm also not the threat Cara pictures me as. If only I were.

If I knew how to control my power, I wouldn't be here. I'd be free, halfway across the galaxy. But, if that were the case, I'd never meet the Mandalorian.

I breathe. I try to focus on myself and my surroundings. I try to feel some flicker of power. But all I feel is the Mandalorian approaching.

"I'm sorry."

"They really should make slave-owning classes. You're not supposed to apologize to me." I offer him a smirk, but I have a feeling the Mandalorian sees past it. "Also, I'm not entirely sure what you're apologizing for."

"Everything."

"Like everything? Like being being born a slave and being stuck a scavenger? Or everything you've done to me? Be more specific."

"I'm going to kill you," the Mandalorian says softly, but he sits on the ground beside me. We're so close our legs and shoulders brush. It shouldn't cause my entire body to come alive, but it does.

"I have a feeling this mission will kill us anyway. You'd probably be smarter to just wait." I tease because I'm scared. Because there's so much uncertainty surrounding me that I don't know what else to do.

"I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I should have married you and freed you when I first met you." The Mandalorian pauses. "But I'm selfish. Part of me couldn't be happier to have you by my side. I never want you to leave me."

I don't know what to say. So I don't say anything. Instead, I reach out and grip his hand. The Mandalorian jumps slightly before gripping my hand back.

"Then don't die on me." As if that's something any of us can control.

"Trust me, I have no plans on dying. Besides, we have unfinished business." The Mandalorian turns so he's facing me. I turn too, staring at the man who has my heart confused and my head spinning.

"Selling the Child and becoming rich?" I offer him an impish smile.

"A pro-slavery slave, really?" The Mandalorian teases me right back and I can't help but smile. This has never happened to me before. None of this.

"If I'm rich enough or skilled enough I can buy my freedom," I remind him.

"Or if I marry you."

The room feels too small. It's as though the rest of the universe ceased to exist and we're the only ones left. I force myself to gulp in air.

"Mandalorians don't strike me as the marrying type," I force myself to sound playful. Because what other choice do I have?

"We're not. But I've found someone special. Someone worth more than a ton of Beskar."

"A witch." I image him smiling under his helmet.

"May I kiss you?" His voice is a mix of soft and husky and it makes me melt.

"Of course, Master."

"Close your eyes." I hear him remove his helmet. There's a brief moment of anticipation, and then his lips are colliding with mine.

This kiss is raw. Unhinged. We're desperate for each other. His fingers run greedily down my body, tracing my curves. I wrap my arms around his neck blindly as he presses me against the floor.

The metal is cold against my back and I can feel the ship shudder but none of it matters. All that is important is the Mandalorian on top of me, trailing kisses from my lips down my neck. I gasp, my body arching into his, desperate for more.

"We could be blown out of the sky right now and I wouldn't fucking care because I'm kissing you." His lips are so close to mine I can feel him form each word.

He slowly gets up, and my body instantly yearns for his. These moments between us never last long enough.

"You can open your eyes now." The Mandalorian takes one of my hands. "Now neither of us can die because we've got unfinished business together."

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