Against the Odds

Chapter 11: The Lie

After a while of flying in pure silence, the child had fallen asleep. Mando asked Vella to lay him in his chambers so he could rest and she gladly took the sleeping baby downstairs. She cradled him in her arms, trying her best not to bend his long ears. Vella gazed down at the child and her heart melted. His huge eyes were closed and she heard his soft breaths as he slept.

He stirred, but she only tutted and started humming. The soft sound of her voice being enough to lull him back to sleep. She swayed slowly, rocking back and forth. A quiet song whispered on her lips.

Vella had left Lara upstairs with the Mandalorian. She could only imagine how that was going.

"So..." Lara said, staring at the back of his silver chromed helmet, "you're a Mandalorian... that's cool."

Before she'd even finished she was out of her seat and out the door. She shook her head at herself. "'That's cool,'" she mocked, "stupid." Lara slid down the ladder in seconds and Din turned around to look at where she'd been.

No one could see it—not that there was anyone around to—but he smiled. A real smile that was almost enough to reach his eyes. He didn't know what to make of the girl but she was funny, he'd give her that much.

Vella grinned at her daughter as she approached. The girl reached the bottom of the ladder and crossed her arms, staring at the kid. "So," she said in a low tone, "you really like this little guy huh?"

Vella nodded and smiled at her. "Sometimes I wish I'd found you when you were this small," she admitted, softly brushing her fingers against his wrinkled green forehead.

The girl scoffed and shook her head. "You would've had to go through my terrible twos," she said with a tone of disgust.

Her mother grinned. "I wouldn't have minded."

Lara didn't know how she felt about the Mandalorian, his child, or the fondness her mother had for said pair. But she knew she loved her mother and seeing the kindness she showed to the baby reminded her of the kindness she had shown her all those years ago on the streets of Garel.

There was very little Lara remembered about those days but she remembered the nightmares. The faces that showed up when her dreams got darker. Even now years later those faces still returned every so often. One thing she vividly remembered was the cold. Garel got very cold. Often she only had what she assumed her parents had left her in, an oversized shirt tightened around her by a scarf and her pants and shoes.

But mostly, the time before Vella was blurry and dark, it lived only in her nightmares. With Vella came the light. She remembered hearing Vella first speak to her so kindly, the feeling of food in her stomach, and Vella's warm arms wrapped around her. It all made her feel safe in a way she'd never felt. Lara had fallen asleep almost immediately.

When she awoke she was still in her arms, but now they were in a ship with other beings. They all smiled warmly and kindly to her, but Vella was the only one she trusted. She remembered seeing Nahla's face, watching as she and Vella traded a few words. Lara couldn't remember what they'd said.

She'd been so shy and timid in her childhood. Lara wasn't brave or special. She didn't have the Force or a people. But Vella took her in anyway, none of those things mattered to her, all that mattered was she was a little girl who needed a family. And with all the love in her heart, her mother became that family.

Lara wondered if Vella would become that family for the Mandalorian and the Child as well. She knew she was plenty capable.

Vella drew her out of her thoughts. "Did you and Mando get along?" She asked quietly, a knowing smirk finding its way to her lips.