DEFENDER • THE MANDALORIAN

SIX

•••

Alya sits on a small rock near the dismantled ship of the Mandalorian. The Child is seated on her lap and twiddling with her fingers softly. Her eyes look over the damaged ship, taking in the destruction of the Jawas.

Soft coos come from the child as the Jedi's eye catches a glimpse of the Mandalorian in his ship, inspecting the damage. The man has remained cold and snappy towards the woman since his awakening, but Alya couldn't find it in herself to address it at the moment; the Mandalorian's head-strong tendencies kept him from seeing reason.

Closing her eyes softly, Alya attempts to regain some stamina. The day had been tiring, offering little time to rest, and this seemed to be the only time she could actually close her eyes.

Though her body is resting, her mind is drowning in an ocean of unrest. As a Jedi, she was supposed to float above the ocean, letting nothing cause her unrest, but instead she is being dragged under the surface. Her being is struggling to swim, floating above it is impossible.

A small nudge on her shoulder leads the woman to open her eyes. Looking down at her lap, the Child looks up at her with curiosity. She hears the sputter of the broken engine of the ship as the Mandalorian attempts to start it.

Picking up the Child with one arm and standing up, the woman walks over to the large,open ship. Wires hang from the ceiling and large pieces of metal are missing from walls. The ship is just in overall disarray.

The Child coos in her arms as it spots the Mandalorian leaning on the wall. His shoulders are drooped slightly, the only evidence of his frustration over the new turn of events.

Seeing the Jedi carrying the Child, the Mandalorian pushes off the wall, giving a quiet sigh. The bounty hunter stalks past the woman. "Come on."

Alya glances over the ship one last time, before turning to walk over to the carrier. Placing the Child securely in the carrier, she sees the Mandalorian standing some feet away looking at his gauntlet.

"Where are we going now?"

The Mandalorian turns his head over his shoulder, watching as she walks over to his side. Her dark eyes look at the bright horizon as he looks back down at his gauntlet.

"To someone who may be able to help."

•••

The horizon is beginning to darken as the trio finally see a small hut surrounded by metal poles. Alya inspects the well-made place, eyes catching a figure on top of one of the towers, repairing it.

"This man helped you before?" The Jedi questions lightly, breaking the ever-looming silence. Her curiosity increased over the man, a person who lived alone on a planet but still aided others.

"Yes. He may be able to help me repair the ship."

The crackling of electricity greets the trio as they finally approach the tower that the figure is on. They come to a halt and without turning around, the figure addresses the Mandalorian.

"I thought you were dead."

The man turns around to face them, looking down at them from his tower. An odd sight they must have been to the man; a Mandalorian, a woman draped in a cloak with a face of steel, and a small, green Child with joy in its eyes.

The man climbs down from his tower, taking caution in each step down. Once his feet are finally secure on the ground. He walks over to the Jedi, inspecting her.

"I have seen you pass before, months ago. You passed the way without a blurgg mount."

Alya thinks back to when she had first arrived on the planet, after conning some convoy shipper to drop her off on the deserted planet. She had been so capture by her plan to get to where the child was being held that she did not bother to look for locals of the planet.

"Yes.I was quite set on getting to the camp where the Child was being held." Alya looks down at the alien man, tilting her head slightly in a friendly way.

The alien deems her response acceptable and turns to place his tools down. Alya watches as the Child climbs out of its carrier, eyes catching a frog. She also glances over at the Mandalorian who is fiddling with his gauntlet.

The woman crouches and watches as the child wobbles after the frog, whimpering slightly. Her eye catches another frog that is hopping close to her. Her hands move silently as she picks up the frog, holding it gently in her hands.

"This is what was causing all of the fuss?" The alien questions the Mandalorian, looking down at the child. It looks at him for a second before going back to trying to catch the frog.

"I think it is a child." The Mandalorian states, looking down at the Child. Alya gently rubs the head of her captured frog with a finger, easing it.

"It is a child." Alya says defiantly, still watching the child that is under her protection. The Mandalorian says nothing but merely glances at the Jedi.

"It is better to deliver it alive then." The alien walks over to the Mandalorian. Alya wonders if he knows that she is apart of the bounty too.

"My ship has been destroyed. I'm trapped here."

Alya half listens to the conversation as the Child glances at her whimpering, wanting assistance in catching the frog. She shakes her head lightly and whispers her encouragement to the Child.

"Stripped, not destroyed. The Jawas steal. They don't destroy."

"Stolen or destroyed, makes no difference to me."

"It could still work if you regain your parts, if it was destroyed then everything would be useless." The woman pets the head of the frog in her hand. "Besides, nothing is ever truly destroyed."

The Mandalorian looks over at the crouching woman, before returning to repairing his gauntlet. Having partially given up on  solving the puzzle of the woman, the bounty hunter only took her words in stride.

"They are protected by their crawling fortress. There's no way to recover the parts."

The woman smiles again as the Child lands on the frog, finally capturing it. She figures that would be its dinner as she think back to Yoda's odd eating preferences. Gently moving her hands, the woman lets go of the frog that she had been holding. The frog hops along, getting away from the group.

"You can trade." The alien offers up a noble solution, one that could work if done correctly.

"With Jawas?Are you out of your mind?" The Mandalorian did not say it out of surprise, but merely unsureness. Jawas were known to be odd traders.

"I will take you to the. I have spoken."

The Child makes a noise of happiness as it stands back up, frog still clutched in its hands. Quickly it puts the frog in its mouth and begins to eat it.

"Hey. Spit that out," calls the Mandalorian, watching as the child eats the frog but does nothing to stop it. Alya didn't really know if the Mandalorian actually expected the Child to listen.

The frog soon disappears as the Child swallows it. Looking back up, the Child looks at the Mandalorian then smiles while giggling.

"It was probably just hungry." The Jedi says lightly as the Child wobbles over to her. She picks it up as it coos and gently holds onto the fabric of her cloak.

The Mandalorian watches as she places it into the carrier, almost seeing a soft smile on her face. His mind flashes back to earlier in the day when he pulled his blaster on her after she helped him; how bold and unafraid she was. He wanted to know why she acted the way she did. He wanted to know why she cared.

What a puzzle this woman creates.

•••