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Zoya and the Mandalorian are directed towards the village's barn. As they walk, the child tottering along at their heels, boxes of belongings in hand, a quiet, star-filled serenity blankets them, emanating from the peacefulness of the village and its inhabitants. Behind the two, the child stares up at them with dark eyes, taking in every glance one directs toward the other when they aren't looking, every accidental graze of their arms. The air smells of fresh pines and clear water, and every time Zoya inhales, she does so deeply, filling her lungs with as much of the clean, forest breeze as she can.
Mando glances down at her with a warm, gentle smile spreading across his petal-soft lips. The expression is so quietly beautiful as it pulls across his features that it's a shame the helmet conceals it. "You like it here?"
Her eyelids flutter closed as they continue to walk forward, and she spins in a circle. "Yes. I love it. I love it so fucking much. The trees. The ponds. The grass. No sand anywhere in sight. It's like heaven."
With her eyes still shut, Zoya trips over a branch laying across the path, engraved with carvings that were perhaps done by one of the young kids living in the village. She lets out a shrill yelp as she nearly plummets to the ground, but before she can fall on her face, Mando drops his box to the grass with a crash to swiftly reach out and catch her.
Her box tumbles out of her hands as his arms close around her waist, yanking her back to her feet using too much of his strength—so much that she bangs right into his chest, hands catching onto his shoulders, fingers hooking onto the edges of the metal. Mando's own gloved hands fall as if by instinct onto the small of Zoya's back, steadying her against him. For a moment, both are too flustered to move. Then she catches her reflection in the onyx sheen on a slice of his helmet, seeing how windblown and fluttery she looks.
"Um," Zoya stutters, sounding breathless, taking a step out of the enclosure of his strong arms, "sorry."
To avoid looking at him, she turns and crouches to pick up the box. Mando does the same, muttering back a response that Zoya doesn't catch as a burn ripples across her face, spreading down her neck. She wants to believe it's embarrassment at nearly falling, but there's a twinge at the back of her mind that tells her that isn't the case.
｡･:*:･ﾟ✧ ｡･:*:･ﾟ
They reach the hut a couple short, quiet minutes after that. A woman is inside preparing it for their arrival, opening the windows to let some light tumble across the floor, tying the string attached to the blinds around a supportive beam stuck into the ground. When they reach the door, lingering awkwardly, she notices them.
