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Celeste was fast asleep when the child finally awoke. Her soft breathing was quite soothing to hear for Mando, considering he was used to the silence and when she was awake, she never stopped yapping. "Mando. I've received your transmission. Wonderful news. Upon your return, deliver the second quarry directly to the client. I have no idea if he wants to eat it or hang it on his wall, but he's very antsy. The first quarry you captured shall also be delivered to the client, directly. But he seemed a bit more patient than the other client, so deliver the other one first. Safe passage! You know where to find me." A hologram of Greef Carga spoke to Mando while he piloted his ship through space.
The child crawled up on the dash of the ship and unscrewed a ball from one of the various levers on the dash. He placed the ball in his mouth. Mando grabbed the ball from the baby and put it back. "It's not a toy." Mando explained to the child and placed him back in his cradle.
Soon enough, Mando landed his ship on the planet where the client for the child awaited. Celeste woke up at the sound of the harsh landing. She shot up to her feet as she realized Mando was grabbing the child to give him away. "You're going to give him away, just like that?" Celeste's voice was raspy from her long sleep.
Mando looked over at her and remained quiet. He was certainly conflicted about it, but, it was his job to deliver the baby. "Have you no heart? They'll probably kill him." Celeste spluttered out, her tone of voice was a mixture of sadness and hatred. Her throat tightened as she refrained from allowing tears to slip past her eyes. She couldn't care less about what would happen to her when Mando would return her to Vikkal—the man that was after her. After all, she was an adult that was receiving consequences for her actions. However, the child was different. He was clearly innocent. And whoever was after him likely only wanted him to poke and prod at him... or worse, kill him.
She walked up to the child in its cradle to give it one last look. It's large eyes peered up at her and he raised his little arms so that she'd pick him up as she had been doing for the past few days. He noticed her sad state and began to whine. Mando pushed her away from the quarry. He cuffed her to the chair so she wouldn't try to stop him or run away. Celeste, defeatedly, allowed him to restrain her. She plopped herself down on the chair, her eyes never breaking away from the child as she longingly looked over at him. Mando quickly left the ship with the whining child and left Celeste there, alone, with a broken heart. She didn't make a scene. She didn't wail or sob uncontrollably. She simply sat in shock with quiet tears rolling down her face. She stared off into nothingness, trying to process the emotions she was feeling. She had grown so fond of the child so quickly, that having him taken away from her felt like a blow to her face.
* * *
A day passed before Mando returned to the ship. He came back with an entire new set of armor made of beskar that he probably received as a reward from delivering the child. "You must be happy now." Celeste hissed at him as she noticed his glimmering new beskar being adorned. She mostly said it to make him feel guilty of what he had done, she knew enough about the Mandalorian to know beskar was part of their culture. And the armor wasn't worn to impress or make other envious of their rare metal. Mando's heart tightened. He was already conflicted enough about the whole child scenario. He didn't know whether to be loyal to the Guild to continue making his money for the Mandalorian, or to do what his gut instinct was telling him what was right—that was, to free the child.
