Clan of Three

Part Thirty

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Rael yawned as she stretched in her co-pilot seat. She rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and looked around for Din and the kid. She found the man crouched at a panel in the back of the cockpit talking into a vent. "You see where you took the blue one off? Yes, now put the red one- No, don't put the blue one back. Put the red one where the blue one was. And put the blue one where the red one was..." Din explained with his hands.

Rael tilted her head in confusion as she stood up. "But be careful. They're oppositely charged, so keep them away from each other- No, hold them apart." Din warned. "Please tell me the kid isn't in there...", Rael groaned as she stood behind him with her arms crossed. But her suspicions were confirmed when she heard a zap and the kid cry out in surprise. Smoke wafted out of the open vent and Din sighed. "Are you okay?", he asked as Rael kneeled down next to him and peered in.

The child coughed loudly as smoke swirled around him. "Well, it was worth a shot." He said as he sat back on his heels. "I could've tried to help." Rael said as she helped the child crawl out of the vent. "We didn't want to wake you up. You haven't gotten much sleep lately." He said as he sat down in the pilot seat and checked the ship's systems. She said a quiet thank you as she sat the kid down in his seat and went down the ladder to make them something to eat.

Rael pulled out some of their rations and poured water into three small metal bowls. Then, she tore open a package and sprinkled even amounts of the powder into each bowl. The girl stirred them until it turned into a steaming broth. "Food!", She shouted loud enough for Din and the kid to hear her in the cockpit. A minute later, she heard Din climbing down the ladder with the child babbling happily. "I worked very hard on this so if you don't finish it, I'll be offended.", Rael sighed in mock exhaustion as she levitated the three bowls over to their makeshift seats they had been using during meals.

The kid beamed at her from his spot next to Din on a metal crate as she gently lowered the bowl into his little hands. Din caught his with one hand while the other tilted his helmet up just enough so he could sip the broth. Rael had done her best not to sneak curious glances at the Mandalorian the past few days, but she hadn't been able to help herself the first time he had done it. She had been able to just barely see his chin and was pretty sure he was a human.

Rael sat down criss-cross on the crate across from them as Din said, "There's no way we're making it to Corvus in this shape. I think we need to visit some friends for repairs." Rael nodded in agreement as she took a sip of broth. Din looked down at the kid and said, "So, how would you like to go back to Nevarro?".  The kid cooed happily before he and the Mandalorian took a sip in sync, making a grin breakout on the Rael's face.

~~~~~

After landing on Nevarro, the trio stood in the cargo hold and watched the ramp start to lower, but it jammed halfway. Rael let out a snort of laughter, but went silent when Din snapped his head towards her. "Something to say?", He asked daring her to point out the obvious. Rael grinned at him and shook her head as she said, "No, no, nothing at all." Din mumbled something in Mando'a as he marched forward with kid in his arms. The Jedi let another laugh slip out as she followed him to the edge of the ramp.

They could see their friends, Greef Karga and Cara Dune, waiting for them. "Looks like someone could use some repairs!", Greef called to them as Rael jumped from the ramp and landed lightly in the sand. "Easy. His ship's condition is a bit of a sore spot right now.", Rael jokingly warned as she made her way to the two. The kid squealed excitedly as Din jumped to the ground, a bit less gracefully than the Jedi. Cara met Rael halfway and the two women hugged for a moment before pulling away. "Looking good, Jedi", Cara said and patted the girl's shoulder roughly.