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Omega had never been to Mandalore but she had always been interested in going one day. After all she was Jango Fett’s clone, and he had been a Mandalorian foundling. Didn’t that mean that Omega had ties to Mandalore? She wasn’t sure. But she wanted to see the Galaxy. She wanted to see everything.
And so when her brothers had told her they would be going to Krownest which was part of Mandalore, she was excited. And then it got even better.
“Guess what? Krownest has snow!” Wrecker said.
“Snow?” Omega asked. Yes, she had heard about it but she didn’t know much about it. She had never seen in.
“Yes, snow,” Tech said and then he described exactly what it was.
It confused Omega, but now she was even more interested in seeing it.
“I’m surprised we’ve been called here,” Echo said but he didn’t elaborate on that.
“I am as well,” Hunter said.
And then somehow her brothers decided that she wasn’t to go on this mission. And neither would Crosshair. Omega never liked being excluded on missions, but it made her feel better that Crosshair was too.
They left soon after that and then Crosshair did also, even though it was against the rules.
“You’re not supposed to leave,” Omega said, putting her hands on her hips. If she was supposed to stay, then she wanted him to also. Especially since they had even told they wanted to keep a low profile.
Omega was sure that she could blend in better than her brothers.
“I have business here,” Crosshair said and before she could say anything else, he left. Omega could hardly believe it.
Omega had intended to stay in the ship, but it was boring and she wanted to see more of the Galaxy. And this place had snow. Omega had never seen anything like that.
Despite that she had read stories about it. Who knew how long it would take before they would go another snowy planet?
It would be okay if she left for a short time. Just a short time. Omega threw on a jacket and left the ship. The cold air hit her right away and when she stepped off the ship she sank slightly in the snow. But she loved it. It was what she had always heard of.
She laughed, not even sure she would have to go far from the ship. After all, there was a lot to do here just in the snow. She made snowmen and snow angels and everything, but she got curious about the town nearby. Life Day was coming up and she knew the town would be decorated for it. Omega loved holiday decorations.
And she was sure it would be fine if she went to the town really fast. She would be back soon.
There were Life Day decorations everywhere just like she had imagined. It was so beautiful. She found herself trying to see everything. It was amazing. It was like she was in a winter wonderland. She kept looking back and forth, knowing she would miss a lot.
But she would try and see as much as she had.
But eventually Omega saw something she couldn’t believe. A little girl. The little girl had shoulder length black hair and was clutching a paintbrush in one hand and pressing her other hand and her face against a bakery’s widow. The girl was tiny probably only three at the most. Why was she alone?
Omega paused but then went over to her. “Hello.”
The little girl smiled as she moved her face away from the window and then brushed the paintbrush across it. It didn’t do anything since the only paint on it had dried a long time ago.
“My name is Omega,” Omega said as she knelt down. “What’s your name?”
The girl stared at her with big brown eyes that didn’t show fear. Still Omega wasn’t sure she would answer.
“Thebean,” the girl said.
Omega frowned. She must have heard wrong. She had never heard of a name that was Thebean. She knew that different worlds had different types of names but this one sounded too strange.
But it wasn’t like Omega had ever gone to Mandalore before.
“Thebean? Your name is Thebean?” Omega asked.
“Thebean,” she said again, nodding. “I’m Thebean.”
Okay. It was pretty in a way even if it was different. And the little girl was super cute. Omega had seen. She had seen a lot of little clones over the years but they were always boys. And they weren’t as adorable as this little girl. Thebean had a big yellow bow in her hair. She pulled on it causing it to fall onto the snow.
Thebean frowned at the bow.
“Do you want me to put that back in your hair?” Omega asked as she picked up the bow.
The girl paused and then grinned mischievously.
“Want to paint it,” Thebean said and she grabbed the bow and then tried to paint it with her brush. It didn’t work though. Thebean frowned and then dipped the brush in the snow and tried to paint the brush again. She hummed softly.
“It’ll be so pretty if you paint it,” Omega said. “Do you like to paint? I love painting.”
“Love painting,” the girl said and then she tried to put the now wet bow back in her hair.
“I can help,” Omega said and this time the little girl let her. Omega managed to tie the yellow bow in her hair. Thebean’s eyes brightened and then she hugged Omega tightly.
Omega hugged her back for a moment before breaking away. “So where are your parents, Thebean?”
Thebean stared at her and then she giggled. Maybe she wasn’t even three yet. She could just be two since her language skills weren’t great. That made it even worse if she was all alone.
Omega needed to do something.
“Do you know where they are?” Omega asked.
Thebean paused and then shook her head. “I painting.” And with that she went back to pretend painting the building.
“We need to find your family,” Omega said and then she reached out and took the girl’s hand. “You can paint later.”
“I want!” the girl said and she pointed at a picture of a smiling cartoon hot chocolate.
“I don’t have any credits,” Omega said. Usually, she would just put it on Cid’s tab but they were on Krownest and she couldn’t do that here.
The girl scrunched up her face and Omega was sure that she was about to cry especially when she pointed at the smiling cartoon hot chocolate again.
“I want!” the girl cried.
“Maybe we—“ But Omega didn’t get the chance to finish because that was when the snow crunched behind her.
“What are you doing, Omega?” Crosshair said. His eyes widened when he saw the little girl. “What are you doing with that child?”
“I found her,” Omega said. “She was all alone.”
“That’s the daughter of the Countess of Krownest.”
“Wh-what?” Omega asked. How could that even be? Titles were confusing to Omega but she knew countesses and counts were important. “But why would she be alone?”
“Mandalorians don’t appear to be the best at raising children,” Crosshair said, examining the girl who had gone back to dipping the paintbrush in the snow. “They like to put children on their throne also judging by them having another child ruler.”
Omega was pretty sure their ruler was eighteen or nineteen which was older than Crosshair technically but she stayed quiet.
“You should locate someone who can reunite her with her parents. The last thing I want to risk is Hunter getting soft and taking another child who doesn’t belong with us,” Crosshair said, narrowing his eyes at the girl.
“I belong and I will find Thebean’s parents!” Omega said.
“Her name is Sabine Wren. What kind of name is Thebean?” Crosshair said.
Sabine did make more sense.
“I’m Thebean!” Sabine said. And she ran her paintbrush over Crosshair’s armor. He staggered back as if she struck him but his eyes also softened. Only for a short moment but Omega saw it.
“Watch over the child,” Crosshair said.
“I—“ Omega tried to say but she didn’t get the chance to finish.
“That! Want that!” Sabine exclaimed pointing at the smiling hot chocolate.
“You can ask your—“ Crosshair said.
“No! Want it now!” And with that Sabine started to sob dramatically. She stomped in the snow and looked like she might throw herself into it.
Crosshair gasped and stumbled back. “Mandalorian girl, stop—“
“Want! Want! Want!” Sabine screamed pointing at the hot cocoa. People were giving them weird looks. Maybe they would recognize Sabine. Maybe that was good because then they could take her to her parents.
But what if some of these people were bad and hurt Sabine? Hunter also said they should keep a low profile. But Sabine was screaming so loud and then she threw herself in the snow.
“Throwing a tantrum won’t lead to you receiving what you want!” Crosshair said to Sabine.
Five minutes later they were in the bakery drinking hot cocoa. Sabine looked perfectly happy like she had never thrown a tantrum in her life. But a couple minutes earlier she had been furious when they hadn’t put marshmallows in the hot chocolate.
Crosshair sipped on his hot chocolate while not looking away from Sabine. His look wasn’t that much different than when he was around a weapon that might explode at any moment.
They were there for only a few more minutes when four people came hurrying in.
“Buir!” Sabine said. “Mama!”
One of the men hurried over and kissed Sabine on the head over and over again. “When I heard you were missing, ad’ika. I was so worried.”
“I got hot cocoa,” Sabine said apparently not worried or upset that she had scared her dad. She hugged her dad but then went back to drinking it.
“I thought something could have happened to you, my little artist,” the man said.
“Love you, Buir,” Sabine said.
“How touching,” Crosshair said, rolling his eyes.
I love you so much, Sabine. That… don’t run away from your mother again,” her father said, ignoring Crosshair.
The woman’s eyes widened and she walked over. She touched Sabine’s shoulder. Sabine just took a sip of hot chocolate and then put it near her father’s mouth. He took a sip of it also.
“That’s very good, Sabine,” he said.
“This is all very sweet, but I believe we need to have a discussion,” Crosshair said. “About how we discovered your daughter.”
The woman looked at him and narrowed her eyes. It was clear that she was Sabine’s mother. She looked so much like her. But unlike Sabine this woman carried herself regally. Even if Omega hadn’t known she was the Countess of Krownest, she would know she was important just by how she held herself.
“Thank you for finding her,” Sabine’s father said as he picked her up. Sabine gripped her hot chocolate. Omega hoped that she didn’t drop it. “My wife and I are grateful. Sabine and her brother are everything to us.”
“If they’re everything to you, then why—” Crosshair started.
“Are you expecting payment?” the woman asked. “Because we can provide that to you.”
Crosshair stared at her.
“We don’t need that,” Omega said. “We just wanted to help.” Now Crosshair was glaring at Omega as if she had said something horrible. Omega ignored him. Sometimes she had to do that. “Sabine is so cute.”
“She is cute,” Sabine’s father said. “But she is a handful.”
Sabine beamed.
“Thank you so much for finding her,” Sabine’s father said.
“You won’t be mentioning this to anyone,” Countess Wren said, glaring at Crosshair. “This… You won’t be discussing this, especially anywhere in Mandalore.”
“Oh, you don’t want people to know about your amazing parenting skills, Countess?” Crosshair said slowly.
“You—” Countess Wren tried to say.
“Ursa, it’s fine,” Sabine’s father said.
“No, it’s not Alrich,” Countess Wren said. “They cannot—”
“Don’t worry, Countess,” Crosshair said. “We won’t tell the Galaxy about this.”
Countess Wren narrowed her eyes at Crosshair and then took Sabine. She didn’t say anything else and left with her daughter. Sabine waved to Omega before she was carried out of the bakery
“Thank you so much,” Alrich said. “We appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” Omega said, beaming.
Crosshair glared at Alrich who sighed and then left.
“Sabine was so cute,” Omega said, still all smiles.
Crosshair stared at her. “I’m glad you’re not that young and I’m glad that you don’t… do what she did.”
“What did she do?” Omega asked, tilting her head to the side.
“That… thing when she tossed herself in the snow and screamed. That was… unpleasant.”
“It’s called a tantrum,” Omega said. “And you used to have them too. Nala Se said you always had them.”
Crosshair’s eyes widened before he glared at her. “Don’t tell lies, Omega.”
“Cross my heart,” Omega said. “I saw it myself.”
Crosshair sighed and shook his head. “Just typical.”
Omega smiled and looked at her brother. She knew Crosshair wouldn’t understand, but she felt this had been a good moment for them. A special moment. Usually now that he was back with them, he would avoid Omega, but he hadn’t this time.
They had gotten to spend time together.
“Why are you staring at me?” Crosshair asked.
“I just like this hot chocolate,” Omega said.
And she did, but she liked being able to spend time with her brother more.