Clan of Three

Part Thirteen

The Razor Crest landed on the familiar barren planet where this whole thing began. "I'm sure the Jawas have completely stripped my ship at this point..." Rael said sadly, glancing out at the ridge where she had left it. Cara gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before they fell in behind Mando and the child's floating carriage.

Kuill must have seen them coming, because he was outside his home waiting to greet them. "Welcome back. It is good to see Rael is no longer in restraints.", he greeted. Cara cut her eyes over at Mando in question, but he only huffed and shook his head. "It's good to see you again, Kuill." Rael replied with a laugh and followed him inside.

"I went to your ship after you three departed and retrieved a few items before the Jawas came. I thought you might come back for them one day." The ugnaught said as he pulled a bundle down from a shelf on the wall. Rael smiled widely at him and repeatedly thanked him as she sat down to look through her saved belongings.

The others sat down with her as Kuill said, "It hasn't grown much." Mando looked at the kid and replied, "I think it might be a Strand-Cast." Kuill thought for a moment before saying, "I don't think it was engineered. I've worked in the gene farms. This one looks evolved. Too ugly." At that point, Rael's focus began to drift from the conversation to the things laid out in front of her.

Kuill had packed her spare change of clothing, the bowcaster Chewie had gifted her, the small tool kit Luke had all but forced her to take incase she needed to repair her speeder or even her light sabers, and a handheld hologram... Seeing the small metal device made her eyes begin to sting. Kuill had saved the last physical remnants she had of her grandfather and parents.

The girl was about to voice her gratitude once more, but a figure appeared in the open doorway. Mando and Cara both jumped to their feet, blasters raised, while Rael moved in front of the child. "Would anyone care for some tea?" The IG droid asked, holding out a tray. "Please lower you blasters. He will not harm you." Kuill said desperately.

Rael could feel the anger and tension rolling off Mando, so she remained where she was. "That thing is programmed to kill the baby."Mando growled, and Rael's body became tense. "Not anymore. Please just lower your blasters and I will explain." Kuill insisted once more. Cara and Rael both waited to see what Mando would do, before they all sat back down.

~~~~

It was dawn when Rael woke up on the floor of Kuill's home. Their host had told the story of how he rebuilt and rehabilitated the IG droid. It had taken over an hour before Mando let his hand stop hovering over one of his blasters, but continued to stare at the droid for the rest of the night.

The young Jedi stiffly sat up as she noticed she had slept with her hand tightly clutched around the hologram of her family. She smiled and turned it on. A young man and woman appeared, smiling down at an older man sat in a chair in front of them, holding a baby. Rael looked at hologram with a sad smile. She would always miss them, but right now she needed to focus on protecting those who had become her family.

So, she pushed herself to her feet and folded up the blanket that had been placed on her before heading outside. Rael looked up to the slowly brightening sky as she stretched. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mando trudging towards her, leaving Kuill feeding the blurrgs. The man stopped in front of her and grunted, "He has agreed to come."

Rael smiled, happy to hear it, but picked up on the tension in the bounty hunter's shoulders. "That's good news, so what's bugging you?", she prodded. He sighed and said exasperatedly, "The droid had to come too. That's his condition. Doesn't even want payment..." The girl smirked a bit a said, "Ah yes, how could someone ever do something selfless and not want payment for it?", trying to lighten his mood, but was unsuccessful.