Mandalorian Menace

Chapter 5 - Family

Author's Note: This is the last chapter before The Phantom Menace arc on Tatooine begins. :D

PS. There is Mando'a in here, and I put all the translations at the end. Let me know if I missed anything! ^-^

~ Amina Gila

The meal is almost ready when Anakin enters the kitchen area. Shmi can tell that something is on his mind from the slow way he's moving, and the thoughtful expression on his face. "Mom," he begins, "Do you think I could be a Mandalorian?"

She wants to smile, because she had already seen this coming, had already expected it from the moment she saw how Mando treated his child. She had known that something would change as soon as Ani brought him home. Her feelings of that nature have never led her astray in the past, and she knows that he's a good man. He wouldn't leave them – the people who helped him when he needed help – as slaves if he could do something to help them. He's going to help them. He'll do everything he can to help them short of endangering Grogu. Shmi knows this as clearly as she knows that the two suns will rise in the morning.

"Do you want to be?" she asks him.

"Maybe," Anakin answers slowly. "I want to help people. I could help people if I became a Mandalorian."

Shmi reaches out to ruffle his hair affectionately. Helping people has always been the foremost thing on Anakin's mind. "If that is what your heart tells you to do, then you must follow it."

"I talked to Mando about it," he admits, "And... he said it would be dangerous. He doesn't want me – or you – to go with him, because of what he does."

She laughs slightly at that. "Oh, I knew from the beginning, from the moment that he said he was a bounty hunter, that his life is a dangerous one. It's an inherent part of their profession. I heard stories about Mandalorians when I was younger, and I know that they're honorable people. Mando seems to be no exception."

"So can I?" he asks hopefully.

"I'll tell him you have my blessing," Shmi promises. "I know how much it means to you to be able to help people and free the slaves. You have such high ambitions, Ani, and that's not a bad thing. It's good that you want to help people, and I'm sure Mando has no objections to such an end goal. If you can't become a Jedi, then you can at least become a Mandalorian. I know you want to travel and see other worlds. This might be the only way you can."

Anakin looks contemplative. "You'll come too, Mom, won't you?"

"Of course," she answers. "I have no reason to stay here if you aren't." She checks on the pot again, before turning back to her son. "You can tell our guests to come for the meal. I'll talk to Mando afterwards."

***

The evening meal is... okay, it was a bit awkward if Din is being honest, because he doesn't, of course, remove his buy'ce. Shmi hadn't seemed fazed in the least by the fact that Din cannot take off his buy'ce in front of others. She offered to let him eat in a separate room, which he did. While he eats, he thinks about the situation he's found himself in. He's no longer as opposed to the prospect of adopting Anakin as his foundling, but he's still a bit... apprehensive. Foundlings need care and love, neither of which will be a problem for him, of course; he cares for Grogu as best he can, and the kid is thriving now.

Anakin isn't Grogu though, and Din will have to get to know him, learn how to deal with him in the best way possible. It'll be especially difficult because Anakin has been a slave. Din knows that Anakin's childhood will have had a great impact on how he thinks and feels, and he doesn't know if he's qualified to care for someone like that. He's afraid that he'll make mistakes, major ones, especially since he's doing this on his own. Normally, foundlings are raised by the covert as a whole, not just their parents – adoptive or otherwise. He doesn't have a covert anymore.