Freedom | A Mandalorian Fan Fiction

Chapter 2: A Decision

Mairinah woke up with her side throbbing, although it hurt less than it had before, the pain was definitely still there. 

She groaned as she moved, trying to get a better look at her surroundings. She was laying on a small, but soft cot in what looked to be the belly of a ship. As she tried to push herself up into a sitting position her arms crumpled and as she fell back to the cot, her head throbbing. 

Trying once more, she managed to get herself up. Looking down she found herself covered by a thin blanket, she threw it back and examined the expertly wrapped bandages around her midsection. 

The inside of the ship was silent but she could hear the engines roaring outside. Carefully she swung her legs over the side of the cot and pulled herself to her feet. 

Her ears perked up at the sound of a chair creaking in the cockpit on the other side of the ship. Barefooted, she quietly padded to the other side of the small ship, glancing out the window. Stars and planets whiz past before her eyes. 

This was only the second time she had ever been on a ship, that she can remember. The first being when she ran. 

Her heart clenches in her chest as she thinks, praying to the Maker that this bounty hunter would find it in his heart to not turn her in. 

She turned from the window, holding her side when a twinge of pain sliced through her. 

Curiously, she walks over to several panels like things that are fastened to the wall. 

"What are these?" She mutters to herself as she pushes them apart.

Her eyes land on a face frozen in time, a scream escapes her lips and she takes several steps back. She trips on an uneven piece in the floor. 

Landing on her ass, she scoots away until her back hits the wall on the other side of the ship. Her chest heaves, as the image settles itself into her head, reminding her of the bodies she saw before she escaped. Reminding her of there.

Bodies, so many bodies frozen in carbonite because they had pissed off the wrong Hutt. She should have recognized them. She should have recognized the panels that had haunted her dreams. The panels she was threatened with if she made one wrong move.

Mairinah was too lost in her own thoughts to notice the Mandalorian climb down from the cockpit. He stood and watched her for a moment, curled into herself, arms wrapped around her legs, holding them close to her chest. Her eyes were shut, tight, as she shook. 

The Mandalorian walks over to her and kneels down. He raises his hand to set it on her shoulder. 

"Hey-"

He gets cut off as she screams again.

"Please don't hit me!" She throws her arms up to protect her face. 

Tears prick at her eyes as she tries to pull herself from the terrible memories.

"I'm not going to hit you. I won't touch you if you don't want me too," he says softly.

  She peaks up at him from between her arms, eyes wide and filled with fear.

The Mandalorian purses his lips beneath his helmet, feeling more compassion for the poor girl than he should. 

He stands and motions towards the cot where she had been earlier. "Get some rest."

As he walks back towards the ladder to the cockpit he hears a small voice from behind him ask, "Are you still going to take me back there?"

With his back still turned away from her, he responds with a short, "No."

Dammit, he thinks to himself as he climbs up the ladder to make sure his other former bounty was still asleep, you've gone soft.