Chapter Text
Much like the Mandalorian, you traveled the galaxy looking for jobs. Whatever you could get your hands and were paid well for, you were happy to commit to for a while, before moving to another town, another planet, another system. You’d worked in cantinas, you’d worked in casinos, and even briefly as a Queen’s aide on a remote planet you’d already forgotten the name of.
Currently though, you were on Arvala-7, helping Kuill on his moisture farm. It was pretty easy work, and he paid you well. It was the longest you’d kept a job in recent years, and you weren’t rushing to move on anytime soon. You were very helpful to have around the moisture farm, as Kuill had discovered very soon after hiring you. Jawas were a known nuisance on Arvala-7, especially in the areas surrounding Kuill’s farm. One night, you awoke suddenly, hyper-aware something was wrong, and when you ran outside, you saw a Jawa ship, and a group of Jawas attempting to steal one of the farm’s vaporators. You held out an arm, took a deep breath and channeled all your energy, and struck the Jawas with a large wooden beam you’d been using to build a pen for Kuiil’s blurgs.
The Jawas scarpered after that, seemingly terrified, and had yet to return to the farm. Kuiil was extremely grateful, and in awe at watching your power. He had been stunned when you admitted you were a Jedi, recalling the stories he read as a child, in disbelief that he had a Jedi working for him. That night, you dug through all your belongings to show him your lightsaber, which you hadn’t touched, or even looked at, in years. It was a dangerous living in recent times, so you kept your powers to yourself unless absolutely necessary.
Fast forward to a year later, and you’re still working on Kuill’s farm. Throughout your time there, many mercenaries and bounty hunters have come and gone, most seemingly unsuccessful in their endeavours. Kuiil offers to help where he can, lending them a blurg if they need it, or simply pointing them in the right direction.
You’re sure rumours of a Jedi floating about in the bounty hunter community would do no good, and Kuill was very good at keeping your secret. When a Mandalorian turned up at the farm with Kuill, however, you knew your history could definitely not be brought up. There is a long history of hostility between the Jedi and the Mandalorians, and you wanted no part in furthering the conflict. But when Kuiil was offering to take the Mandalorian part way to his bounty, he offhandedly mentioned how you should travel with him the whole way because of how skilled you were, which was likely due to your force-sensitivity. Kuiil immediately realised his mistake, but it was too late. The Mandalorian’s posture shifted, and he told Kuill that you were not to join them.
Kuill, a true gentleman, and advocate for your skill, refused to help unless you came with him, and the Mandalorian eventually caved. You proved immense help when he was locating the Child. You were covering him at the compound, while he and the IG droid attempted to break into it and capture the bounty. The Mandalorian had given you a gun, and you were supposed to stay back and shoot from a distance, but you realised there were too may Nikto mercenaries, and you were admittedly a bad shot, so you joined the field. The mercenaries were pretty distracted once they witnessed you walk into the entrance, lightsaber drawn. This allows the Mandalorian and the IG unit to enter the compound and collect the bounty.
You’d made light work of killing all the mercenaries, and was about to sit for a minute’s rest when you heard a blaster shot. Assuming the droid had betrayed the Mandalorian, you burst into the room, lightsaber in hand, ready to strike it down. You were met, however, by The Mandalorian staring into a crib. You holstered your lightsaber and moved to his side, peering into the crib, where your eyes met those of a small creature. The Mandalorian reached a hand out to it, and it raised one of it’s own in response. You studied the creature, a vague sense of recognition stirred somewhere deep in your mind, but you couldn’t place the feeling.
Knowing others would come, the Mandalorian closed the crib, and the pair of you left the compound with it, starting your long journey back to the farm. Mando was quietly impressed underneath his helmet when he saw the scene you’d left behind after you’d joined the fight. He thought that perhaps Jedi aren’t as bad as they’re made out to be. After all, why would one help him, after all the conflict their two kinds had gone through?
He questions the Jedi again, when he’s faced with a Mudhorn. You’re about to use the force to try and hold the creature off, but you’re beaten to it by the small creature in the crib. You gawk in amazement at the raw power it possess, giving the Mandalorian a chance to kill the Mudhorn. You run over to him and give him a hand up, and he seems dazed.
“The Child has the force. Like me.” you marvel, and he turns to look at you.
“You mean that thing is a Jedi?” he asks incredulously.
“It would seem so. I assume it is untrained, because of it’s age, but I’ve never seen such power, especially from one so young.”
He looks down into the crib, where the Child is now sleeping, and for the second time in a few days, he’s wondering if the Jedi are truly his enemy.
After all this, you decide to move on from Kuiil’s farm, knowing news of a Jedi in these parts would reach unfriendly ears, and the Mandalorian offers to fly you to Nevarro with him, and you gladly accept. You wish him good luck with the hand-off and go your seperate ways on Nevarro, but not much time passes before you find yourself leaping into action again to help the Mandalorian, and before you know it, you’re in the midst of a stand-off with The Guild.
Everything goes by so quickly, and all of a sudden, you’re back in the Mandalorian’s ship, laying on the ground, with a blaster shot to your side. You stir, and observe the Mandalorian climb down from the cockpit, med-kit in hand. As he administers some bacta spray, he can’t help but ask a question that’s been bothering him.
“Why did you help me? Why did you put yourself in the firing line for me and the child?”
“It’s the Jedi way. Really, we’re supposed to be peacekeepers, and while none of that was remotely peaceful, I can tell you care deeply for the Child, and it was simply the right thing to do. Who knows what they were going to do to it back there… I don’t want to think about it. It can use the force too, it is in my nature to protect my own kind, as I am sure is in your nature to do the same. We’re not as different as our ancestors seemed to think.” you rambled to distract yourself from the pain.
“Do you think you could help the child?”
“In what way?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. But having you around could show the kid how to control it’s powers. And maybe show me why the Jedi aren’t as bad as my people make you out to be?”
“I am curious about the child. I remember one like him when I was just a youngling, and I was first training. Perhaps the more time I spend with him. the more I will remember, and maybe we can find his people?”
“Finding his real home would be ideal, travelling with me is no life for a child.” he spoke sadly, and you wondered how lonely life must be for him. You wondered maybe if he needed the company more than he was letting on.
You stuck around, and helped the little one grow stronger, and The Mandalorian (or as he now let you call him, Mando) grew to enjoy your company. You were certainly useful to have around. If someone didn’t go running at the sight of a Mandalorian, they certainly did when he was joined by you wielding a lightsaber. You made a pretty great pair, both on and off the battlefield. Mando found himself craving your company, and although he wasn’t much of a talker, would try to have conversations with you about anything and everything.
He realised fairly quickly that perhaps he was having romantic feelings towards you. He dismissed them, as it was against the Creed, and after having learned about the way of the Jedi from you, learned that Jedi were not supposed to have romantic attachments. He buried his feelings deep within the Beskar, but that didn’t stop him stealing glances at you and smiling as you sat with the child and praised him for lifting small objects.
Little did he know, you were struggling against your own code too. You knew attachments were forbidden to your people, but you’d never felt this way before. It was almost exhilarating, because it was forbidden - both in the Jedi code, but also in terms of ancestry and the dealings of those who came before you. A Jedi and a Mandalorian joining together was something that had never happened before. Could you be the first?
You were both fiercely protective of the child, and of one another too. As time grew on, you both became less adept at hiding your feeling. You could never tell what he was looking at through his visor but you were frequently caught staring at Mando, and it’s a surprise you didn’t get whiplash from the speed you would look away when he caught you. What you didn’t know was that he was smirking in those moments, and wondering if he should make a move. He desperately wanted to, but didn’t know how.
One night, he awoke in the middle of the night and stumbled upon you sat in the cockpit rocking the Child in your arms, softly singing it a song. The Child was sleeping by this point, but you found it peaceful, just to watch the stars go by as you sang quietly. Mando startled you slightly by placing a hand on your shoulder, and your wide eyes scanned the Child, but you relaxed when you noticed he was still sleeping.
“Mando, you scared me!” you whispered at him, as he turned the pilot’s seat around and sat himself down in it.
“I’m sorry,” he chuckled, and your heart leaped in your chest at the sound. “You have a lovely voice, by the way.”
You blushed profusely at the compliment and whispered a thank you. Mando sat in contemplation for a minute before reaching a hand out to stroke the Child’s ear. He cooed in response but did not stir, and Mando’s heart leaped at the small chuckle that left your lips. He slowly moved his hand to find yours, and hold it tightly. You looked up into the slits in the Beskar, confusion painting your features.
“I truly enjoy having you around, you know that right?” he asked slowly and you smiled and nodded in response. “Good.” came his curt reply.
“I enjoy being here too, Mando. Since leaving the Jedi all those years ago, it’s been lonely. But you and the Child are like a little family to me now.” you smiled down at the Child, and then your eyes lingered on your linked hands, and you blushed again. This is probably the most physical contact the two of you had shared.
You fell into a comfortable silence, Mando’s thumb tracing your knuckles while he was deep in thought, trying to work out what to say. Before he could say anything, you let out a small yawn, and slowly withdrew your hand from his. The loss of warmth made him sigh, and he hopes you didn’t catch it (you did). You stand up, and announce your retirement to sleep. Before you turn to leave though, you lean down and place a chaste kiss to the top of Mando’s helmet before scurrying away. You’re blushing like never before, and Mando has the biggest grin smacked on his face, which is equally flushed.
Maybe this could work out…