Metanoia | The Mandalorian ON HOLD

Chapter 8

When they got back to the Razor Crest, Mando started messing with the ship, fixing some things on the outside. The kids were running around, trying to catch some butterflies and forest animals before getting tired. It was dark now, the child was asleep inside the ship, cooing softly, while Juno sat beside Mando, who was still working on his ship. She was getting really comfortable around him, trusting him. To kill the time, she started making jokes and puns that one of her guards used to tell her. At first, Mando looked at her weirdly, quickly getting annoyed and shaking his head, while Juno just laughed at him. She knew most of the the puns weren't even funny, but Mando's reactions were and she was really enjoying it.

"Stop it, that's enough for today. Go wait in the ship." He told her. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he was enjoying the company and he had to try hard not to laugh at some of the jokes, smiling slightly under his helmet.

Juno laughed again and stood up, walking backwards. "Alright, but just so you know, the puns will return." When she turned around, she noticed a light in between the trees and then two men emerging from there on some transport. She gasped and ran back to Mando, grabbing his wrist. He looked at her, silently asking 'what'. "Someone's here." She whispered.

"Excuse me." Said one of the men when they got closer to them.

"Excuse me, sir." The other continued.

He slightly pulled Juno in front of him, his back still turned to the men.  "There something I can help you with?" He asked, the modulator making his voice raspy.

"Uh, yeah. Raiders." Said the man walking closer to them. Juno was still holding Mando's hand, feeling uncomfortable with the strangers.

"We have money." Continued the other man.

"So you think I'm some kind of mercenary?"

"You are a Mandalorian, right? Or at least wearing Mandalorian armor. That is Mandalorian armor, right." He asked.

"It is." Answered Mando, walking around the ship and pulling Juno with him.

"See? I told him. Sir, I've read a lot about your people...tribe." He stuttered. "If half of what I read is true..."

"We have money." The other cut him off.

"How much?" Asked Mando.

"Everything we have, sir. Our whole harvest was stolen." Said the first man.

"Krill. We're krill farmers." Explained the second one.

"We brew spotcha. Our whole village chipped in." The first one said and the second one pulled out a bag of credits. Mando looked at the size.

"It's not enough." He started walking again, Juno quietly following him, still holding his hand. She didn't say anything, knowing he would take care of everything.

"Are you sure? You don't even know what the job is." The men followed them.

"I know it's not enough. Good luck." Said Mando.

"This is everything we have. We'll give you more after the next harvest."

Mando opened the ramp, the two men jumped, not expecting it. Mando walked up the ramp with Juno following him. She looked up at him confused, raising her eyebrows. "You're not going to help them?" She whispered, now feeling sorry for the farmers.

"Come on. Let's head back." One of them said defeated

"Took us the whole day to get here. Now we have to ride back with no protection to the middle of nowhere." The other one complained. Mando suddenly stopped and turned as he reached the top of the ramp with Juno.

"Where do you live." He asked the two.  They stopped and turned to look at him.

"On a farm. Weren't you listening? We're farmers." He said.

"In the middle of nowhere?" Mano asked.

"Yes." He confirmed.

"You have lodging?" He continued asking.

"Yeah, absolutely." Said the second farmer.

"Good. Come up and help." He told the two. They walked inside the ship, picking up crates and putting them on the transport. When Juno went to grab a box, Mando took it from her.

"Hey, I can help." She turned sharply to him.

"It's heavy and you still need to heal." He told her. "Go take the child." She sighed, turning around and picking up the child who was now awake. When they finished with the boxes, Mando turned to the two men. "I'm gonna need one more thing. Give me those credits." After they gave them to him, he turned around towards the kids. "Hey, Juno! I'll be right back. Wait here."

He returned a few minutes later with Cara following him and they all got on the transport, going to the village. The child soon fell asleep again on Mando's right side. Juno was on his left, her head resting against his leg as she curled up, her eyes closed, trying to fall asleep as well, but she couldn't.

"So we're basically running off a band of Raiders for lunch money?" Asked Cara.

"They're quartering us in the middle of nowhere. Last I checked, that's a pretty square deal for somebody in your position."  Replied Mando, his hand absentmindedly on Juno's shoulder. "Worst case scenario, you tune up your blaster. Best case, we're a deterrent. I can't imagine there's anything living in these trees that an ex-shock trooper couldn't handle." He leaned back, his hands now spreading behind him, the child cooing softly.

It was quiet for a while, the adults slowly closing their eyes when Juno suddenly sat up. "Mando!" She whisper-shouted, looking at him with wide eyes.

It was barely noticeable, but Mando jumped and turned his head down, looking at the girl. "What? I thought you were sleeping."

"Can I ask you a serious question?" She wondered, Cara now looking at them, too, with a confused expression.

"Yeah." He mumbled.

"Why did the scarecrow get an award?"

He kept looking at her, not saying anything for a moment, while Juno tried to hold her smile, waiting for his answer. "Because he was outstanding in his field." He finally answered.

Juno gaped at him. "You dick! Did you already know this one?"

He leaned his head back, glad he was wearing his helmet that was hiding his smile. "No. Watch your language and go to sleep."

Juno shook her head slightly, giggling, and laid back down, putting her head on his thigh again. He didn't say anything or showed any reaction, so she closed her eyes, finally falling asleep. Cara watched the interaction with a small smile, then she fell asleep as well.