Metanoia | The Mandalorian

Chapter 18

They were nearing Nevarro when Juno woke up. She sat up and stretched her arms and noticed that the child was slowly waking up as well. She smiled at him when he opened his eyes and looked at her, cooing. "Morning." She mumbled and the child yawned. She stood up and opened the door, seeing Kuiil finishing with the child's pod. "Hi Kuiil. It looks amazing." She told him.

"Thank you." He nodded. The child then cooed loudly, looking with interest at his pod, so Juno picked him up and put him in, making him babble more as he explored his new pod.

"Looks like he likes it." She smiled at Kuiil. "Where's Mando and Cara?" She asked.

"Up." He says, pointing to the ladder. Juno nodded and went up, leaving him with the child.

She went to the cockpit and saw Cara and Mando sitting in their chairs in silence. "Hey." She said. They both turned to her as she sat in her chair.

"Hey kid." Said Cara.

"We'll be landing in a few minutes." Said Mando and turned to look at Cara who stood up with a soft smile in their way and left them alone. She knew he wanted to talk to the girl and thought it was better to let them be alone.

"Is something wrong?" Juno asked confused and he then looked at her.

"Nothing's wrong ad'ika. I just...What we're going to do, it probably will be dangerous and..."

"But, we've got each other's backs, right?" She didn't let him finish. He nodded. "So, everything will be fine." She continued. He got off his chair and kneeled in front of her, holding her knees.

"I just want you to know that I will always protect you and the baby. No matter what." She smiled, tears threatening to fall. After a few years of being alone, she almost forgot what it felt like to have someone care about her. She quickly jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. He hugged her just as tight, one of his hands holding the back of her head and running through her hair.

~

Mando landed the ship on Nevarro and quickly opened the ramp. They all walked down the ramp on the blurrgs with Juno sitting behind Mando, hidden from the eyes of Greef Karga and the bounty hunters next to him, and the pod with the child inside following. They stopped in front of them as Karga started talking.

"Sorry for the remote rendezvous, Mando, but things have gotten complicated since you were last here." He said as he and the hunters went closer, Mando eyeing them suspiciously. "It appears that introductions are in order. It seams we've both provided a security detail. I recommend the shock trooper guards the ship." He continued, pointing at Cara. "These lava fields are lousy with Jawas."

"She's coming with me." Said Mando.

"But the town is now run by ex-Empire. If a Rebel Dropper is with us, they'll all get their hackles up." Tried Karga.

"She's coming." Replied Mando and left no room for arguments.

"Fine." Said Karga and threw his arms to the side. "Fine. At least cover your tattoo. No need to flaunt it." He continued as Cara looked at her tattoo but did nothing to cover it. "Now, where are the little ones?"

After a moment, Mando turned slightly around and helped Juno get down from the blurrg and then pressed some buttons on his wrist to make the pod move forward.

Juno looked nervously at the man as he got closer to her and the pod opened and the child looked around.

"So, these little bogwings are what all the fuss was about." He said and lifted the child, holding him with one hand while the other went to Juno's head. Mando, seeing it, put his hand on his blaster, waiting for Karga's next move. "What precious little creatures. I can see why you didn't want to harm a hair on their little heads." He put the child back to his pod and Mando moved his hand from his blaster. "Well, I'm glad this matter will be put to rest once and for all." Mando closed the pod and made it move to him with Juno quickly following. He helped her to get on the blurrg again and she relaxed when she sad behind him, holding onto him. "The sun drops fast on Nevarro. We can walk for a spell, camp out at the riverbank, then make our way into town at first light."