THE ARC OF SKYWALKER | a star wars story✔️

11 | the client

—THE PIT IN DIN'S STOMACH BECAME DEEPER AS HE BROUGHT ASA AND THE CHILD TO THEIR INEVITABLE FATES.

He noticed Asa's mood change drastically. She hadn't spoken since they landed on Nevarro and she refused to make eye contact with him. Her feet dragged beneath her and he could feel the tenseness between them. He was starting to pity her as she closed her eyes to hide the fear she felt from him. Din wouldn't blame her if she started to cry from fear or from being angry at him.

The child glanced around, his large eyes wide with curiosity of the market square and he cooed and babbled cutely. Din's chest tightened as he watched him.

He was beginning to have doubts, and in his experience, those were never a good sign. Since his argument with Asa and hearing her words echo in his head, the Mandalorian couldn't help but find truth in her words. The kid was an orphan. Din should be showing the kindness he was shown when he was found by Mandalorians. He should be taking him in as a youngling. But no, instead he was handing the Child over for a camtono of beskar.

Asa clutching onto his arm tightly brought him out of his thoughts. He looked down at her, seeing the terror in her eyes as they walked down the winding back alleys to where the Client was located. Her fingers gripped the sleeve of his shirt.

"You're afraid." Din stated, shocked to see her in a vulnerable state.

The brunette glared at him, her jaw tightening as she clenched her teeth. Her grip didn't loosen at all as they walked.

"I'm not afraid." She denied. But her shaking hands gave her away.

He dropped the conversation since he didn't want to argue with her. She was scared and angering her would only make the situation worse.

The child cooed and reached out to grab Asa's vest, his small hand grabbing the zipper. Without looking, she grabbed his hand gently and tried to even out her breathing to make it out like she was fine. Din tried ignoring it but guilt decided to eat away at him.

They reached the door and Din showed the small robot a chit. The mechanism replied to him in an alien language before the door opened, revealing a droid. He gently grabbed Asa's arm and made sure the child was with them before following the droid inside. The air was thick and full of tension. So thick that one could cut it with a knife. Combine it with Asa's mixed emotions and the regret Din had for turning in the kid, it was almost suffocating.

"If it's all the same to you, Mando, you're not so bad." Asa muttered.

He looked down at her, a small smile on his face but his helmet covered it. He only hoped she could sense how he responded.

"Besides trying to kill you and you trying to kill me, you're not so bad either."

Attachments. He hated the goddamned attachments he developed, especially toward the Child.

"Why say that anyway?" Din asked as they neared the door.

Asa shrugged, exhaling a shaking breath as she looked up at him.

"Because I'm getting what I deserve and I know I won't live another day to say it."

Her statement made chills spread throughout his body and it made the situation harder on him. Maybe he should have listened to her and kept the child...

The door opened and the three were met with stormtroopers. Din kept his gaze forward, ignoring the child's scared whimpers and Asa's body pressing against his. She removed her hands and tried to get them to stop shaking. While she held her chin high and erased any emotion off her face, Din could still see the fear and denial in her eyes as she eyed the Client.