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Din and Hebe strolled up to a small barn, they had arrived not too long ago, the villagers helped with their luggage. A woman noticed the two stand by the door, Hebe was a little weary and decided to stay quiet. "Please come in." The bounty hunter immediately came in and set down the box he was carrying, Hebe stayed by the door where she was comfortable. "I hope this is comfortable for you. Sorry that all we have is the barn." The girl's eyes roamed around the place but narrowed when she saw that there was only one bed, she opened her mouth to speak but Din quickly replied for her. "This will do fine," he turned away again after making brief eye contact. She didn't say anything against it but felt the heat rise to her neck.
"I stacked some blankets over here," the woman smiled gently at Hebe's timidness. "Thank you, ma'am," she nodded. Her expression immediately dropped as both she and the Mandalorian felt a presence from the doorway and whipped around, the small figure was startled by the sudden movement and jumped back. The lady tugged at the figure and hugged the small girl into her side comfortingly. "This is my daughter Winta," she explained. "We don't get a lot of visitors around here. She's not used to strangers. These nice people are going to help protect us from the bad ones," the woman stroked a little strand from Winta's face, Hebe almost felt a little smile appear on her face. If only she had something like that growing up.
"Thank you," she whispered shyly.
"Come on, Winta. Let's give our guests some room," she pulled her daughter away. The two stared at the doorway until the girl turned and shrugged the bag off of her back and readjusted the baggy trousers Din had given her. "I'm gonna have to buy you new clothes after this," he mumbled and turned away from her.
"Hm? Don't bother, it'll only be a waste of money, use it to buy food or medical supplies," she hummed back while glancing down at the bed. They ended up staying inside of the barn set up until the sky grew grey and slightly dimmer, the small lights of the village gave their temporary home a cosy feeling under the soft yellow glow. Mando was cleaning his gun and Hebe was curled up in the corner, entertaining the child with little sticks she had found outside. "Knock, knock," a voice rung out, breaking the settling quietness. "Come in," Din replied gruffly. Omera, the woman from earlier walked in with a tray with two plates of food.
"Can I feed him?" Winta asked more confidently as she stood by her mother, Hebe shuffled out of the way of the cot and gestured to the curious child. "Sure," Mando breathed.
"Are you hungry?" She giggled happily when the child took the food out of her hand. "Can I play with him?"
"Sure," Winta excitedly left out of the door with the child behind her, Mando sighed and moved to follow them out of the barn. "I don't think..." He started but Omera held her hand out stopping him. "They'll be fine."
"I'll watch them," Hebe smiled at the Mandalorian in hopes of calming his nerves. "I'll be babysitter," she disappeared around the door. After a small chat with Omera, Din's hands travelled up to his helmet, swiftly setting it down onto the window ledge he was leaning on. He watched Hebe carefully as she sat on a log near where the children were playing and dancing around their child happily. Almost admiring her features while checking up on the kid every so often. Seeing them without his visor blocking him for the first time felt ethereal, her skin reflected the small lights scattered around as it got darker. Her eyes held more emotion as she gazed wistfully at the energetic children.
He also caught the sight of the subtle bags under her eyes, her slightly tanned skin now looked paler than before from what he could tell, she hadn't been eating much at all and he felt a growing knot in his stomach the more he thought about it. The feeling he was growing for both her and the child had been driving him up the wall, having a companion, someone for him to watch out for and look after him felt foreign to him after being alone for so long. He finished eating and decided to join Hebe at her log, bringing the warm plate of food over to her.
She flinched slightly, snapping out of a daze when she felt a weight pushing down on the log beside her, she turned only to be met with a tray. She raised her eyebrow and in turn Din only brought it closer to her face. "You haven't eaten all day, don't make me spoon feed you," he placed it down at her feet. After a while of going back and forth, she started eating small bits but he was satisfied that she had even picked up the fork. The space around them grew quieter and quieter as more parents called in their kids for their bedtimes or dinner, the sky was now a peaceful dark blue, the only thing that they could hear was the patter of their kid's footsteps running around and crickets, rustling trees and their faint breathing.
The atmosphere made Hebe grow nostalgic as she remembered how her mother used to take her out in secret to a small lake on her home planet, the outline of the sky meeting the sandy floor, sitting in it sometimes felt like a pillow, they always sat at the peak of a dune and let themselves sink into it, a place where no one could see them. Hebe felt safe both then and now, sat next to Din, the person who had the heart to save the small helpless child and her when he could've taken off without an issue.
"How did you know that Mandalorian?" His question made her heart race at the suddenness of it but she quickly settled her heart rate when she realised that she was back with him and the child. "What?" She asked hoarsely. She subconsciously picked up the child as he waddled over to them and handed him to Din, who gladly set the cooing child on his lap.
"Back on Nevarro, you were talking to a Mandalorian and he recognised you?" He asked he must've been lost in his own thoughts beside her to remember that. "Oh, um he was a friend of my mothers," she paused hesitantly as Din leaned closer, his elbows leaning on his knees as he started dead at her, not even attempting to hide it. She sighed mentally and leaned forward with him. "To put it frankly, my mother and father were Mandalorians," she stated bluntly and watched as Din tilted his head in confusion. "Then how come you're not wearing Mandalorian armour?"
"Well, I never really got to meet my father because he got captured and killed, stripped for parts when I was only two. My mom suffered the same fate when I reached the ripe age of eleven, she didn't make me wear a helmet because she thought I would stand out more, though she trained me probably similar to how you were."
"Didn't they take you in?" He sat up straight as the child fiddled with his glove."Well, when she died I was tested on and the empire discovered that I was force sensitive, I had to run away. I took her ship and..." She drawled and clasped at her temples to find the will to talk about it. "Din?" He was caught off guard when he heard his name, she had referred to him like that around anyone else, though he appreciated that she kept it to herself. "Yes?"
"I want to show you something," she whimpered, pinching her eyes closed, he continued to stare at her as she delicately took his hands and paused when her thumb slipped underneath his yellow glove, his heart pounded but she didn't take it off, instead he felt as though something had slipped behind his eyes. Imaged flashed behind his them as he closed them, like memories, it freaked him out at first but then he saw a scared teenaged girl. He watched different scenarios flick through his brain as if it were a film. When she withdrew he felt like he wasn't even in his own body.
Like he had lived someone else's life in less than three minutes...
