Wrest Pin | The Mandalorian

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Music Box

Note: This chapter is very mature.

Also WARNING: This chapter hints at sexual assault. Evangeline has a vision of someone else's experience, and while it isn't graphic, I want everyone to be safe!

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Mando woke before she did.

There were sounds first, birds chirping and the water falls that he had known were there in the moonlight the night before. His eyes opened blearily, sunlight seeping in through the light fabric of the tent and illuminating it in morning sun. His arms were at his sides, lying straight on his back, and with just the slightest movement he felt the stiffness there from sleeping on the ground, despite the piled blankets. He inhaled a breath through his nose, eyes rolling as he tried to get the sleep to leave them, making his vision focus. He turned his head to the right, and Evangeline was there, on her side – her eyes closed and her face relaxed in sleep. Hair fell into her delicate face, arms curled under her head, and Mando's gaze fell over her body. The soft skin of her neck and chest, her breasts, down to her swollen abdomen and her hips where the blanket met and stopped. He stared at it, taking it in. Sometimes he forgot, he supposed. That the child was steadily growing in there.

With it, the evidence. And despite Evangeline having insisted the child was not a consequence of their actions, sometimes it felt as such. A responsibility, simply placed in front of him like Grogu had been. To be as Grogu's father, he would be expected to be a father to this child as well, and that was just how it was – there was no room for argument. It was a code after all. And he loved Evangeline, the child was a product of that blindness. He supposed he and Evangeline viewed love in different ways – she seemed to cherish it and he felt as if it covered ones eyes, made one make irrational decisions, say irrational things...Hurt people when they threatened it. When they threatened her or the children. Mando loved them – he loved her, but he did not enjoy the feeling most days. Because it overran many other thoughts. It wasn't warm and cozy as some people made it out to be, romantic...It was downright painful at times.

Mando sat up slowly into a sitting position, his chest bare and dressed only in his pants from the night before. His armor was in the corner of the small tent, and he ran a hand through his messy bed head. When his gaze traveled to the other side of the tent, he almost jumped, seeing Grogu sitting up as well, blinking groggily at him. A few moments passed, before Grogu seemed to wake up more, and his expression changed to one of excitement upon seeing Mando there. His head tilted and he cooed, immediately stumbling to his tiny feet and tripping over the blankets to come over to where Mando was. Mando snatched him before he could crawl over Evangeline's slumbering form, as not to wake her, bringing him to sit on his legs. Grogu made another excited sound and Mando hummed, speaking in a whisper, "Hey, kid."

It had been over two weeks since Grogu had seen him...He wondered if the kid had been confused when he had left...He wondered if he had been hurt like Evangeline. There probably wasn't a full understanding of the situation. Mando ran his thumb along the child's forehead, offering his best go at comforting him – at calming a bit of the overwhelming joy at seeing him. Mando had a thought, one that was self-deprecating, telling him it was wrong for the kid to feel such happiness upon his return. Especially since Mando had returned with such anger inside of him, and though most of it had dissipated, that didn't seem like the...correct way to return to them. Either of them.

But Grogu only looked joyful, and Mando allowed a small smile, his mouth just turning up a bit near the corner. Maybe it was strange for him, to go to sleep and wake up to find him there. But he clearly didn't look upset by the surprise. Mando went on, and questioned, "Did you behave?"

A pause then...

"Seems she's the one who didn't listen to orders."

Grogu made another one of his small sounds and Mando breathed. He had missed him...Had been terrified. But he was right in front of him, along with Evangeline – they were both okay, so Mando couldn't understand why he couldn't seem to shake the anxiety of the whole experience. Slowly, he set Grogu aside, moving over towards Evangeline to wake her. They needed to go – he needed to get back on task with the bounties. He still had the one frozen in carbonite, and another on Coruscant that he had to track.