Against the Odds

Chapter 19: The Promise

I changed Malik's ship's name to the Impulse not the Leviathan, it's not that big a ship and Leviathan makes it seem like it is.

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Din's foot got caught on a root partially hidden in the dirt, he stumbled, barely catching himself against a tree. His heart was beating hard against his chest and his leg stung with every little move. He'd just left Vella behind. With deep breaths in and out, he tried to calm himself.

Though Din quickly realized he was going in the opposite direction of the Razor Crest. His first priority would be checking on the kid, he'd go the long way to make sure he wasn't followed.

His footfalls were hard against the dirt, not having the energy to try to be quiet. The plan was for both sets of teams to take both ships and meet up at the outpost, it was public and would allow them to regroup before quickly leaving the planet. Din wasn't going to follow the plan. Instead, he was going right back to the Razor Crest and getting the heck out of this system.

As Din trekked forward, he heard a twig snap and quickly pulled out his blaster and pointed it. His chest rose and fell with heavy breaths but his fear calmed. Din's eyes softened as he lowered the gun, seeing Lara's familiar face looking very concerned.

"Mando!" She cried, looking around wildly. "Where's mum? They know she's a Jedi!"

Din propped himself up against a tree and returned his blaster to its holster. "She saved me but got caught in the process."

"We have to go back!" Lara yelled, marching forwards.

Din grabbed her arm, holding tightly as he stared steadily at her. "Kid, we'll try something, but we can't go in blindly."

Nahla just watched. Lara had told her a little about the Mandalorian, but she hadn't told her he was completely covered in pure beskar. It was a striking difference to Daxon's that both impressed and worried her.

Lara glanced back towards where the camp was, where her mother was. Her heart was racing in her chest and her eyes were beginning to water. The very ground beneath her began to shake as she swayed slightly in her stance.

The Togruta rushed up to her and engulfed her in a hug as sobs started to spill. "I can't lose her," the girl wept. "I can't."

Din let go of Lara and watched as Nahla held her in her arms and ran a hand up and down her back. He had lost his mother when he was only twelve years old. He could remember her smile, the way she kissed his forehead, the feeling of security he found in her arms.

His visor lifted as he looked at Lara, she was nowhere near the age he was when he lost his mother. Yet somehow that might have made it worse. She'd lived her whole life with her mother while Din had only had a quarter of it. He couldn't remember the sound of his mothers voice as she told him she loved him on the day he lost her.

"I am never leaving you."

It was a promise Vella had made to her daughter. The words echoed in his mind. He wasn't supposed to hear them, they weren't for him. But he didn't need to imagine how much they meant to Lara. He didn't need to imagine how those words would haunt her if she lost her mother now.

The same words echoed in Lara's mind. But instead of pitching her into hopelessness and worries, the words only seemed to fill her with determination. Her breathing steadied as she pulled herself away from Nahla's embrace and stood a little straighter, wiping her tears away. She wasn't going to let Malik take her mother from her. Lara would do anything she needed to make sure her mothers words came true. "Let's get her back," she said.