The Princess, The Pea And The Bounty Hunter

Chapter Eight: First Blaster...

Mando would listen to the entire conversation between the two women from the tree canopy above...

Paranoid as he may have been for climbing so high, his concerns seemed well founded as Cara pressed for details...

"So...? What does he look like...?"

He would halt...wondering if Litha dared to tell her, at all...

But he also held woes over what the young woman might think of him. They were polar opposites in appearance, after all...

Any reasonable person trapped in a helmet under such circumstances would be at least a little concerned, until Litha's reverent reply of a "good man," which only seemed to set him more on edge.

A good man...?

What the hell does that even mean...?!

"A good man!"

Huffing under his helmet in annoyance, he'd find his way down and drop off the fresh wood with a grunt before walking all the way back to the Razor Crest while the women sat in stunned surprise...

***

Working on his ship, Mando growled, "What is that even supposed to mean? What's that even- good man..." he huffed under his breath such things, a muttering grump before he felt the dull ache of the crystal in his pocket tugging on his mind...

In only a day it had become a sort of anchor, one which always seemed to draw his hand to it when his thoughts of Litha troubled him...a reminder...

He sighed as he pulled it from his pocket, staring down at the violet crystal. Then, taking a deep breath he would return to his work, replacing a coupling on the outside of his ship...

Right before a pair of poor farmers would approach him with a plea for help...and a mutually beneficial offer...

"This planet is..." Litha blinked as they moved toward their village on a floating trailer the next morning, "...beautiful," she beamed then as they took time to sharpen knives and clean blasters, except for Mando who stared down at the blaster in his hand, unmoving and silent.

"It's innocent," Cara made her own observation as she calibrated the sights of her rifle.

Litha chuckled at this, "I like it. It reminds me of Yavin before the rebellion moved there," she mused before noticing Mando reach into his pocket and pull out her crystal.

"Here," he said, handing over the crystal with the small blaster in his hand.

Litha furrowed her brows, confused, "I don't need a blaster, why..." her words would trail off as he turned his helmet to look at her.

"This was the first weapon my clan ever gave me. I used it the day I met you," he stated then and Litha's smile dropped to a look of genuine surprise, "It's broken now, but I figure you could make use of it," he reasoned, trying his hardest to sound as if he didn't care...as if this gesture meant nothing to him...

"You...want me to use this to build my lightsaber...?" Litha was entirely astonished, "Mando, I don't think-" he'd cut her off.

"If you don't, then why'd you take the crystal back?" he countered, using her own words against her as her astonishment returned to a smile he hadn't seen before...but Cara had.

The trooper smirked, "Is that some kind of sappy inside bonding joke this third wheel isn't supposed to understand, or...?" she prodded and earned a small kick from Mando, but she just continued to smirk for the rest of the way to the village...

***

There they would be given lodgings and a proper crib for the little one to sleep in...

And all the while, Litha would be itching to get to work on her laser sword...

"Where are you going?" Mando asked as she began drawing all the blinds in their little hut.

"I have to build my lightsaber in solitude, but I can't leave the village, so..." she paused as she lowered the last one and moved to shoo Mando outside.

"I can't help you?" he questioned as she tried to turn him by his shoulder to the door, but he refused, taking her hand off of him. Unconsciously coming to hold it in his as she looked up at him.

"Mando..." she chuckled out his name lightly, knowing he meant well. However, the rules were clear and carven stone, "...you already have. You've given me everything I need," she assured him, "But this part is a task I must complete on my own, you understand. Your people have their own trials to earn their armor, no?" she pleaded her case, earning a sigh from him as she set her free hand on his chest plate.

"I gave you a dinky broken blaster and made you break your necklace," he dismissed his own actions, but Litha shook her head.

"No...you've given me my life, a friend I may have never known and the tools I need to earn the Knighthood I've been working toward since I was five," she corrected him with the same pride in him that had twisted a knot in his chest so many years ago, "You're a good man, Mando," she almost promised him with her tone, but even so...he was inclined not to believe her.

But it was this fact that made her certain she was right about him...

"I'm not..." he groaned. Stopping himself as Litha could almost hear him grimace behind his helmet when she stepped closer...but he couldn't stop himself from bowing his head, meeting her forehead with his helmet before he chose to confess, "...I'd hate to disappoint you."

Litha understood this as she chose to take another step and embrace him fully, wrapping her arms around his neck, "You never have," she told him quietly then as she buried her face into the soft collar of his armor, "Even if you're stubborn as a Gungan stuck in mud," she pointed out then, actually earning a chuckle from him as he returned the hug.

"Feeling's mutual," he said then, releasing her a moment later as the thought of sharing more memories decided to creep in an ruin it for him.

Litha giggled at this, knowing that even if he didn't always like what she had to say, he was listening, "I know, now go," she urged him on and he went willingly...not seeing the faint grin of mischief that same to her, "And that dream you had about me wearing a blue silk slip?" she spoke up just as he stepped off the porch, seeing him halt in his tracks as if she'd frozen him herself, "The one with the lilac flowers in a vase beside the bed...?" she added another detail that caused him to turn as she reached up for the door flap, "I...happen to like that one best of all," she confessed before pulling a string and the door dropped between them...

And Mando was left stunned silent... speechless for what could he say...

He liked that one best of all as well...