Clan of Three

Part Five

After the group had made it through the excited crowd, an older woman guided them towards a hut and a barn in the middle of the farm. "Now, the women and the child will stay he-", the woman began to say as she gestured towards the hut but Mando interrupted her. "The child stays with me and she stays with the child." he said, nodding his head towards Rael.

"Oh... well then. You get the hut to your self, dear. Omera will make sure the three of you have everything you need." The woman said before she lead Cara into her hut. "You better not snore.", Rael quipped as she picked up the happy child and placed him in his hover-carriage. "Why do I feel like you sleep talk." he grumbled before stomping into the barn. "Leia did tell me I talked in my sleep on the Falcon..." Rael whispered to the child who gave her a giggle in response.

"Please come in. I hope this is comfortable for yo- Oh. There's more. I can go find extra bedding." A woman said as she saw them walk in. "Oh, please don't worry. I'll probably end up sleeping under the stars." Rael said kindly as she sat down on the cot. Mando turned his head towards her in question but she ignored him. "Sorry that all we have is the barn." The woman said bashfully and finished opening the windows.

"This will do fine." Mando said with a curt nod as he walked around and inspected the room. Rael arched her brow at the woman, who she just remembered was named Omera, as she watched the Mandalorian with a twinkle in her eye. "I stacked some blankets over here." Omera said awkwardly and gestured towards the bench behind here. "Thank you. That's very kind.", he replied without turning around.

Suddenly, Rael sensed a new presence lingering outside and turned her attention towards the entrance to see a young child peeking in. Not even a second later, Mando whirled around with a hand ghosting over his blaster, frightening the young girl. "It's a kid, Mando." Rael sighed and she stood from the cot as Omera hurried to the small girl and guided her inside.

"This is my daughter, Winta. We don't get a lot of visitors around here. She's not used to strangers.", Omera explained as she wrapped an arm around Winta's shoulders. "This nice man and woman are going to help protect us from the bad ones.", She continued and Winta sent them a small smile. "Thank you.", Winta said. Rael smiled underneath her scarf and Mando nodded in response.

"Come on, Winta. Let's give our guests some room." Omera said lightly and they walked out, hand-in-hand. "Someone was checking you out and it wasn't the kid." Rael hummed as she unwrapped her scarf and let her hair out of its braid. "What?", Mando grunted in confusion. "Omera. She couldn't keep her eyes off you." The Jedi teased as she kicked off her boots. "You heard her. They don't get a lot of visitors. That's all." Mando told her.

"Whatever you say.", Rael said with a smile that was interrupted by a yawn. "Take the cot and get some sleep." Mando said as he leaned his rifle against the wall. "I won't argue right now, but I'm not sleeping on it tonight." She mumbled lazily as she stretched out on the small cot. It wasn't long before the girl had drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

She didn't even stir when a small green hand tugged at lock of hair that was hanging off the bed. "Don't wake her." Mando scolded as he picked the child up. The child cooed sadly and reached his arms out towards Rael. "If you want on the cot then you have to sleep." The Mandalorian said firmly and the child smiled up at him. "Fine." He grumbled and gently placed the child on the cot and watched as he snuggled up to the sleeping Jedi.

~~~~~

"Knock, knock.", a voice called from outside and stirred both Rael and the child from their sleep. "One moment." Mando called and hurried over to the cot. "Cover-up", he mumbled quickly and dropped her scarf in her lap as she sat up. Once she had secured it, Mando said, "Come in." Omera entered the room carrying a tray with two bowls. Winta skipped in behind her mother and came to a stop in front of Rael and the child on the cot.

The girl looked at her mother before nervously glancing between Rael and Mando before settling her gaze on the man. "Can I feed him?" Winta asked quietly. "Sure." Mando said as he holstered the blaster he had been cleaning. Winta kneeled in front of the child and began to feed him something that Rael didn't recognize.

After the child had a few bites, Winta asked, "Can I play with him?". Rael watched Mando as he hesitated before saying, "Sure.", and Rael placed the child down on the ground. "Come on!" Winta laughed as she skipped out of the barn and the child cooed happily as he waddled after her as quickly as he could. "I don't think-" Mando began to say worriedly while taking a step forward, but Omera blocked his path. "They'll be fine.", the woman said.

Rael had to hide a snort at the woman's, not so subtle, actions. "I've brought you both some food. I noticed you didn't eat out there and you slept through the meal." Omera said with a kind smile and set the tray down on the bench. "That's very thoughtful of you." Rael said with a smile as she stood and took one of the bowls from the tray. The girl sat back down on the cot and leaned her back against the wall as Omera asked Mando, "Do you mind if I ask you something?".

"Go ahead.", he said. "How long has it been since you've taken that off?", she questioned. "Yesterday.", Mando said as he started to unpack his supplies. Rael remained silent as she lifted her scarf a bit to sip on the bowl of soup and watched the curious woman. "I mean in front of someone else.", Omera said with a smile and took a step closer to Mando.

"Yesterday." Rael said flippantly making the Mandalorian tense up and snap his head towards her. Omera's eyes widened and started to say something but the young woman chuckled and shook her head. "I'm joking. Don't blow a fuse, Mando.", Rael snickered as she could feel his invisible glare burning into her skin. "Oh", Omera forced out with an awkward chuckle before turning her gaze back to Mando and awaited his answer.

The Mandalorian let his glare linger on the amsued girl for another second before glancing out the window and gesturing towards the children playing with the child and said, "I wasn't much older than they are." Omera sucked in a small breath before asking, "You haven't shown your face to anyone since you were a kid?". Mando shook his head and replied, "No, I was happy that they took me in. My parents were killed and the Mandalorians took care of me."

Rael's teasing mood quickly disappeared as she heard Mando open up for the first time. "I'm sorry.", Omera said softly. "This is the Way." Mando replied without hesitation. The woman stared at his visor for a few more seconds before clearing her throat and saying, "Let us know if there's anything you need.", before hurrying out the door. Rael could sense the tension and awkwardness flowing off of the Mandalorian as she finished her broth.

The girl took a deep breath as she looked towards the man and said, "I never knew my parents. They were killed when I was still too young to remember anything about them. My grandfather raised me. I don't know anything about them... My grandfather would always get this terribly pained glint in his eyes when I asked, so I just stopped. Now he's gone and I'll never know." Mando turned to look at her and tilted his head in confusion.

"You opened up, maybe not directly to me, but I figured I owed you the same." She explained quietly as she stood and placed her bowl back on the tray. "I'll go check on the kid and leave you to eat." Rael told him as she readjusted her scarf and headed for the door. "Rael." Mando called, stopping her. The Jedi turned around and looked at him. "Thank you." He said lowly with a small nod. Rael smiled at him before continuing on her way.