><

"Always happy to meet a friend of Yara's," Cy said stepping forward and offering his hand for Mando to shake.

Mando didn't move. He just stared at the good looking young man in disbelief. Yara had said she had a fiancé before she was captured, but she had believe he was killed along with the rest of their crew. It never occurred to Mando that she could have been wrong. But that begged the question, if Yara had been held for almost a year by the Imps, where had he been?

When Mando didn't move to shake Cy's hand he chuckled nervously. "Never met a Mandalorian before," he said conversationally. "Is that really Beskar?"

Yara quickly stepped forward. The tension rising in the room was almost too much to take. Cy was going to do that jovial asshole thing he did, and she knew Mando would not see the humor in it.

"Of course it is," Yara snapped quickly, stepping forward between the two men. There was too much testosterone flying around for any good decisions to be made.

Cy nodded, looking impressed. "Well, come on in and eat!" He called waving the way deeper into the base. "Rest, you look like crap Yara, you must be exhausted. I can only guess your friend looks the same under that helmet," Cy said waving vaguely at Mando.

Mando stiffened at Cy's casual insult to her appearance. Yara knew Cy didn't mean anything by it, but she glanced nervously back at Mando. He hadn't moved a muscle. She looked at Cy and held her finger up, then stepped up close to Mando so they would have some privacy.

"Do you want to get the kiddo?"she asked in a low tone.

Mando pulled back in surprise. It wasn't like Yara to suggest introducing the kid to strangers. "Is it safe here?" Mando asked, lifting his chin so he could stare at Cy.

Yara grunted impatiently. "Cy is a gun runner, but he's no bounty Hunter," she said confidently.

Mando nodded slowly. "Okay," he agreed. He didn't trust Cy, not for one second. He had too many questions. But he did trust Yara.

Yara could feel how tense Mando was and she laid a gentle hand on his forearm. She wished he could feel the warm pressure, but knew he would understand the gesture none the less.

"I'll wait here," Yara said.

Mando nodded and headed back to the ship. He didn't like this. Didn't like anything about this. He hated Cy already, and wanted to take Yara and the kid and get out of this kriffing system. He hated that Cy had a history with her, and had rights to Yara.

Cy and Yara were standing together chatting quietly when Mando returned with the kid in his arms. He bristled when Cy laid a hand on Yara's shoulder. The kid cooed and Yara turned, dislodging Cy's touch.

"What's that thing?" Cy asked with a scowl.

Yara shot Cy a disapproving look. "This is his son."

Cy looked back and forth from Mando to the kid. "Wow," he said after a long moment. "How do you get your ears in the helmet?"

Mando ignored him.

><

Dinner was just as awkward as Yara imagined it would be. The kid ate with enthusiasm, but Mando of course just sat in silence. Cy tried to get a rise out of him, challenging him to eat, trying to get him to talk, but Mando refused to rise to the young man's baiting. Yara finally shot him a look and Cy left Mando alone.

Yara could feel the low level hum of tension rolling off of Mando. She wasn't sure what Cy was feeling. If she was honest, she wasn't really giving him her full attention. Instead, she found herself reaching out towards Mando, wanting to soothe him. She hated that he was so uncomfortable. She glanced towards Cy, not that she blamed him. When she plugged in the coordinates she hadn't expected to find a fiancé still waiting for her.

Cy seemed to notice her lack of focus on him, and he scooted his chair closer to her, forcing Yara to pay more attention to him. "It's good you're home," he said with a wry smile. "It will be great to get back to us," he said. "I got a new ship, we can pick up all your old man's contacts. They'll sure be happy to see you again."

A surge of an emotion so strong it took her breath away went over Mando, although he didn't move a muscle. Yara went still and she turned to look at Cy. "What?" she asked with a frown.

"Well, I know it won't be exactly the same, but it'll be great. We'll make it our own." Cy said with a wide grin.

Yara hesitated. Cy seemed so sure that she was staying with him, that she was home. It made sense. She and Cy had planned on building a life together before she was taken by the imperials. But that felt like a lifetime ago. After nearly a year of experiments at their hands, she wasn't the same person.

She turned back to Mando. He was completely still, not showing any reaction at all. Not that she would have expected one, but beneath that stillness she could feel a tingling tension along her skin.

"I-" Yara started to say and stopped.

Cy frowned at her. "You do want to come home don't you?" he pressed.

Yara pinched her lips together. "I haven't given it much thought," she said honestly.

Cy's face fell and it felt like kicking a Ewok. "I mean I get it," he said. "You got a thing going," he said motining towards the Razor Crest.

"It's late," Yara said gently. "I'd like to take the night to think about it."

"Right!" Cy exclaimed "of course."

Mando didn't move. He hadn't moved the entire time they were talking. He was terrified. He hadn't considered the fact that he might lose Yara, right here right now. That there was a chance she would wake up in the morning and decide to stay here. To leave him and the child.

"There's some extra cots in back," Cy said gesturing to the back room. "You can stay there if you want," Cy told Mando.

It suddenly occurred to Yara Cy might assume she would be sharing a bunk with him, like they always used to do. "We'll stay on the Razor Crest," Yara said shortly. She didn't even look at Mando. Her thoughts were racing and her loyalty was torn.

"Sure, sure, course," Cy said and he took another long swig of his drink.

Yara turned to follow Mando and the child towards the Crest. "Night Cy," Yara called over her shoulder.

"Night baby girl, good to have you home," Cy said and he took two long strides towards her and enveloped her in huge hug that had Mando stiffening.

Yara smiled weakly at him and took a measured step back. She didn't want to make Mando any more uncomfortable than he already was.

Together she and Mando walked silently back to the Razor Crest. Yara couldn't help but notice how silent Mando was. Not that he was usually overly chatty, but he seemed especially silent tonight. At first she thought it was just Cy, but now that they were alone he still hadn't spoken. All he offered her was a quiet goodnight. The child looked back and forth from Yara to Mando and tottled after Mando.

Yara sighed and dropped onto her bunk. The ship was so silent. Yara stared at the ceilng for hours. The relief of knowing someone, one of her members of the family, had somehow survived the Imps attack meant more to her than she could possibly say. It was one less death on her conscience. But there was a part of her screaming that Cy wasn't necessarily her family anymore and as hard as she tried to ignore it, she couldn't.

She padded barefoot out of her quarters and across the bay to Mando's doors. She swallowed nervously and raised her fist to knock gently. The door slid open and Mando was sitting up waiting for her. Yara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear nervously and pressed her lips together.

"Are you leaving?" Mando finally asked, his voice totally devoid of emotion.

Yara's eyes snapped up to meet his helmet. "Do you want me to?" she asked a little sharper than she had intended.

She heard a soft grunt through the modulator. "I think you need to decide what you want," Mando intoned. It took every piece of his self control to keep his voice level.

Yara sighed. She dropped down onto the bed to sit beside Mando. She reached over and took his hand in hers. Her thumb slid beneath the edge of his glove and rubbed back and forth against his warm skin.

Mando sighed. He wished he had something more to offer her, something more to give, but he didn't. He looked around the small room and out into the bay of his beloved ship. This was all he had. This was all he was.

Yara leaned her head against his shoulder, her cheek resting against the beskar pauldron.

"This is your chance to go home," Mando said in a low tone.

Yara shook her head. "The Imps destroyed my home," Yara said with a shake of her head. "Cy is...from my past," she told him resolutely. "Cy would let me stay if I didn't have somewhere else to go, but Mando," she said turning to look at him, she stared at her own reflection in his helmet and then looked around at the cozy ship surrounding them. "I..." she dragged off and she pressed her lips together. "This is my home now. This is my future," she said. "If...if you are okay with me staying," she added uncertainly.

Mando's hand tightened around hers and he pulled her into his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief against her as he held her against his chest. He didn't know what to say as relief choked him. He had been so sure he was losing her. But she had chosen him, chosen their life together.

Yara's hands came up and she wrapped them around his wide chest. The beskar was cold against her skin but she sighed contentedly. For the first time that night, something in her chest loosened. This was right.

"Thank you for letting me stay Mando," she whispered.

He needed her to understand how he felt, how much he trusted her, and how much she and the kid meant to him.

"Din," he interrupted, his voice hoarse with stress

Yara blinked up at him in confusion for a moment, her thoughts racing. She had heard that name before.

"Din Djarin," he said the name he hadn't given to anyone outside his covert since he was a boy. "It's-" he started to say and stopped. He helmet dipped as he looked down and away from her.

Yara reached up, catching the side of his helmet in her hand, as though she would cup his face. It was the perfect mirror image of what he had done moments earlier.

"Your name," she whispered, not trusting her voice. She couldn't believe he would trust her with this piece of himself.

He nodded, feeling suddenly incredibly vulnerable. He tried to pull away but Yara reached up with her other hand. She cradled his helmet between her hands. On tiptoes she leaned forward and pressed her lips against the cool beskar surface of his helmet. Her breath fogged the reflective surface for a moment and she rested her forehead against his.

"Thank you for trusting me," she whispered.

Din sat back against the wall, holding Yara against his chest. His chest felt so full he didn't know what to do with himself. There was a part of him that was terrified of how vulnerable he had just made himself to her. But there was another, much deeper part that knew he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. He cradled her gently in hands that could kill without thought.

They fell asleep like that. Yara curled into Din's side and him leaning against the wall. They woke early. Yara blushed furiously as she realized she had slept the whole night in Din's room with him.

"I need to go talk to Cy," she told him.

Din nodded and stood. Even though she had known Cy, he wasn't comfortable letting her go alone. He planned to trail behind her a ways just in case he didn't take the news well. He was feeling overprotective. He recognized that, but it didn't mean he could stop himself.

Yara found Cy working on his ship. "I'm glad you're okay Cy," Yara told him with a gentle smile. "I wanted to thank you for the invitation to join you, but I've made my own way now," she told him. "I'm glad you're okay though," she said again. "It looks like you've been really successful I'm happy for you."

She looked up at the ship with a frown. It really was a beautiful ship. Expensive. Yara went cold as a terrible thought went over her. She lifted her eyes to meet his. "Cy," she said distractedly as she stared up at the beautiful, expensive, new ship. "How did you escape?"

Cy froze and turned to look back at her. Cy, who had never beat her at sabacc because he was a terrible liar. Cy, who they always laughed and joked it was good he had been taken into her father's crew because without guidance he wouldn't have been able to find a job on his own.

"Where did you get your ship Cy?" Yara pushed but she already knew the answer. There was movement behind her, but she knew it was Din, she could feel him.

The pounding pressure in her temples made her gift that much more powerful in that moment as she knew Cy had betrayed them all. She could practically see it in her minds eye.

Yara stared up into Cy's eyes in shock. "It was you," she said in a low tone. "You killed them."

"Why would you betray her, betray her family after they took you in, welcomed you?" Din's voice was a low growl behind Yara and Cy flinched.

He stared at Yara, his eyes filled with pain and shame as though he were begging her to understand. "She got drunk one night and it was like she could see the future, she knew everything I was thinking and feeling," he shuddered at the memory and shook his head as though it were too terrible to comprehend. He turned angry eyes to Din. "You'll betray her too once you see what she does. What she is."

Yara's pulse pounded loudly in her ears as she realized it really had been all her fault. It was her gift, her powers. She had done this. She had shown Cy what she could do because she was tired of hiding it from him. All because she had stupidly thought her fiancé could accept her for who she was.

Din strode forward and wrapped a fist around Cy's neck as his rage pulsed through him. "I've always known what she can do," he growled. He wanted to tighten his fist and snap the little mud scuffers neck, but it wasn't his kill. It was Yara's.

Cy stared into her face, there was remorse there, but he also was unapologetic. Yara couldn't even look at him. She looked beyond him, to the panel over his shoulder and she froze as a blinking red light caught her eye. She hurried across the room and swore when she realized it was a transponder.

"Did you tell them I was here?" she asked urgently. She glanced back at Din, her eyes wide with terror.

Cy nodded once sharply. "You have to understand..." he started to say.

"I don't have to understand anything. When did you send it?" Yara asked, coldly, no longer caring what he had to say. She had to protect Din and the kid. If the Imps were on the way they needed to get out of here.

"Last night," Cy told her.

Yara nodded as the cold realization hit her. He had never been happy to see her. The surprise on his face had simply been because he hadn't expected her to escape. He had always known where she was and had never come to rescue her because he had sold her out. Her and her family.

"Yara-" Din started to say. They had to go.

Yara met Din's gaze and she nodded once so he would know she understood. Her face was a cold mask of fury like Din had never seen before. Yara had always been so light and gentle, but this was the resolve that he knew burned in her heart. It reminded him whenever too long had passed and he forgot that she was more than capable, that she had fought and scratched out a living in the criminal underworld long before she met him. That she had grown up learning to kill or be killed and to be loyal only to her familiy and her crew. But a member of that crew had betrayed her and her family.

Yara took a deep breath, dropped her hand to pull and fire her blaster, shooting Cy square in the chest. Cy dropped to the ground, dead.

Yara turned and strode back to Din, the fury was gone now, replaced by an exhausted look. Din ushered her ahead of him back towards the crest. He fired up the engines and she dropped into the seat beside him silently. His heart hurt for her. But there was a small piece of him that was pleased that, before they discovered the betrayal, she had chosen them. It wasn't her only option. She had chosen their life together.

"What he said," Din started after a few moments of silence. "-why he did it," he reached out to her and laced his fingers with hers. "I know you, I know what you can do, and..." he stumbled over his words. He wasn't good at this type of thing but he needed her to understand. He needed her to never doubt him. "It doesn't matter. You and the kid, you're special, but that doesn't change how I feel. It won't ever," he added, needing her to understand he would never betray her.

><