See Me, See You: A Mandalorian Story

C H A P T E R F I F T E E N

REINA'S POV

Reina again had to cling onto Toro's body as he and Mando raced across the desert plain at the highest velocity their bikes could manage. As soon as Fennec shot her first attempt to blast us off, Mando stretched out his arm above his head and ignited the flash charge. A blinding blanket of white light illuminated the space between us and the ridge. After a minute, Mando ordered for Toro to fire his, and Toro obeyed, growing closer to the cliff-face. Out of nowhere, Mando's speeder was shattered, cataputing him into the sand.

"MANDO!!!" Reina screamed, but there was nothing she could do. There was nothing she nor Toro could do without risking getting knocked off, too. "Reina, your turn!" Toro shouted. "Aim right over my head! Hurry!" Reina reached her arm out just above the driver's head, and ignited the last flash charge. Then, at last, we reached the cliff and Toro immediately leapt off the bike. "Stay here! I'll get her!"

"Toro, wait!" Reina grunted, but her mind went back to Mando, who was still out there in firing range. It was pitch black in the night...she couldn't see him..."Mando, where are you?" she breathed. A few moments later, Reina heard a blaster fire and series of yelling from both Toro and Fennec. Her instincts kicked in and she raced up the ridge where the two were sparring in hand-to-hand combat, asuming Toro's blasted was knocked away.

But before Reina could react to anything, she was tackled to the ground, at the same time a laser zipped over where her head was. She opened her eyes to find Toro on top of her, his left hand under her head to protect it from the impact and his right arm smushed under her shoulders. They both were panting heavily. "What...are you...doing here?" Toro breathed, his hand moved and brushed a strand of hair from Reina's face and then cupped her jaw. "How did you even get up here?" Reina couldn't help but to stare directly into his dark eyes, for they were full of deep concern, like he was genuinely worried about her...

"Cute." Fennec stated before yanking Toro off of her before she could say a word and locking him in a chokehold. "No, stop!" Reina shouted, scurrying to her feet.

"Let him go."

Mando had finally caught up, pointing his blaster at Fennec's head. The assassin surrendered, releasing Toro from her deadly hold. Toro then immediately came to Reina's aid, grasping her forearms. "Are you okay?" he asked, and Reina only scoffed. "I should be asking you that." she rolled her eyes. "Thank you for saving me."

"Of course." Even in the pitch-black night, I could see his brilliant white smile.

"Hey, go find your blaster." Mando recommended to his pupil, and then tossed down a pair of restraints to Fennec. "Cuff yourself."

"A Mandalorian." Fennec almost awed. " It's been awhile since I've seen your kind around. You've been to Nevarro lately? Heard things didn't go so well, but you seem to have walked away easily. And the Unseeing Assassin." The captured target cocked her head to the side to view Reina standing behind the Mandalorian. "There's a rumor that title doesn't work so well anymore."

"What are you babbling about?" Toro returned, brushing off the sand on his blaster. "I should thank you. You are my ticket into the Guild."

"You're welcome." Fennec grumbled as Toro pushed her along, and the four of them descended the ridge. On the way down, Mando lightly touched Reina's arm and whispered to her. "The kid saved you?"

"He did." Reina nodded, and her eyes lingered down to the scorched mark on Mando's Beskar chest plate where his heart was located underneath. "You took a hard hit. I'm sorry I was useless on this job."

"It's fine." Mando stated. "As long as the job gets done, it doesn't matter how." That comment took Reina all the way back to their first job together when they were assigned to capture the baby they now protect...how Mando took the job in his own hands in order to insure the job's completion. Of course, she was blind then. And here, she's pretending to be for the sake of her identity. Just let it go, Reina reminded herself. Now is not the time to get riled up over Mando's overprotective actions.

"Uh-oh, looks like a couple of us has to walk." Fennec teased amusingly as we approached the surviving speeder that Toro and Reina shared. Mando did see this as a predicament and he turned to Toro. "I'm going to need you to go retrieve that Dewback we saw earlier."

"What? And leave you with my bounty? I don't think so." Toro refused, which only seemed to annoy Mando as he reluctantly sighed and caved in. "Fine, I'll do it. Make sure Fennec doesn't get near the bike. Reina will stay here as well." Reina could tell in Mando's voice that his decision to not bring her was in her best interest—to keep an eye on both Fennec and Toro. Reina nodded in agreement since Toro was clearly still unpredicable in his attitude. And with that, Mando left on his own, and the three of them sat around in the dark in complete silence.

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The suns peeked over the horizon and the Mandalorian still had not returned, and Reina was growing very worried, especially when Fennec made notice of it. "Oh, it's been awhile." she sighed.

"Quiet." Toro grumbled. He has had no rest for almost two straight days, so his voice was strained from exhaustion. He spent most of the watch leaning onto Reina for support, who didn't particularly mind, but they received a lot of brow raises from their prisoner.

"I'm going to go for a walk." Reina suggested, sensing that she should leave the scene and go back up to the ridge top to see if she could spot Mando's return. She figured nothing would happen in the ten minutes she'd be gone. Toro wasn't buying it though. "How are you going to get around without a guide?" He joked. Reina only smiled while brushing off her clothes. "With touch. I won't be long. I'm just going to stretch my legs along the cliff and I'll find my way back the same way."

"Have at it." Toro scoffed, surrendering to her wishes.

Reina started her journey, making sure she was competely behind the rocky corner before ascending the wall. Once she got the top, she immediately spotted Mando on the Dewback in the far distance. He was on his way back, but it would be another two hours or so until he reach their location. With that in her conscious, Reina began her way back to Toro, but just as she stepped onto the flat surface, she heard her worst nightmare upon leaving Toro and Fennec alone: a gunshot.

"Toro!" Reina screamed as she sprinted around the corner, only to find Toro standing above a deceased Fennec Strand. "Toro, what have you done?" Reina gasped.

"So you can see?" Toro shook his head in disbelief. "Fennec was right about you, meaning everything else she said is probably true, also." Reina didn't know how to approach this situation without risking a bigger problem. "Why are believing a criminal's tricks? Why did you shoot your ticket into the Guild?"

"Because whether you know it or not, your Mandalorian is worth tens time more than Fennec. Mando is wanted for the events on Nevarro and once I turn him in, I'll be legendary. You—" He stopped, and slowly approached Reina, who was careful not to flinch. "Tell me the truth: Are you blind? Because if you are, how did you know that I was the one to shoot and not Fennec? Or how did you climb up the ridge last night without help?"

"Toro." Reina breathed, remaining calm. She reached out her hand and her palm lightly touched Toro's brow and she brushed her fingers down his temple before cupping his jaw. "I am blind. I have a sixth sense that I told you about. It allows me to sense the energy off of everything around me, including people's individuality. Touching you now, just brought us closer."

"Is that the truth?"

"Yes."

"So what now?" Toro sighed. "Will you come with me? Or are you staying loyal to Mando?" Reina didn't answer immediately, for she wasn't sure which path was safer for not only her, but Mando as well. If Toro was after Mando because of what happened on Nevarro, then he must know about the baby...