CHAPTER NINE. 

THE PROMISE

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Tess had wanted to turn back exactly three times since sitting on the back of the Mandalorian's speeder bike and riding off into the distance.

She had wanted to jump right then and there, let go of the Mandalorian's waist and leap into the sands. She didn't care if her legs would get scraped or her head would ache, she just wanted to get back to Mos Pelgo. Back to the Marshal's open embrace and Jo's beautiful golden smile. Back to the safety of the familiar. Back to a place she knew and understood, not speeding through the dunes of Tatooine, going into an unknown world that Tess had learnt was never kind to people like her. She did not want to be caught up in whatever danger the Mandalorian would most likely get wrapped up in, did not want to leave the spaceport in a ship, flying through the stars for the first time in her life.

Since leaving the sight of the krayt dragon, everything had changed for Tess Oprin, and she still wasn't sure if it was for better or for worse.

That being said, despite her misgivings, Tess did not turn back. She held onto the Mandalorian as he sped through the sands, driving towards Mos Eisley. The thought of that wretched port made her stomach tighten, but Tess said nothing. But she didn't need to, as the Mandalorian could sense her unease from the way she gripped him tightly, and how every once in a while he could feel her eyes boring into the back of his skull.

The warrior was still in shock that Tess had decided to come with him. It had been an offhand comment, something he wanted, but did not think she would take seriously. Yet here she was, sitting on his speeder bike, watching the landscape pass by in a blur. She was here, with him, going off towards a new future. Now the Mandalorian's mission grew more important. It had something more added to it, another being in his care, another child he needed to help. The Mandalorian smiled under his helmet.

He was happy that Tess was with him, even if she still seemed cautious.

"So..." Tess finally spoke behind him, and the Mandalorian inclined his head towards her a little, yet keeping his eyes trained ahead of him.

"Yes?" he asked softly. Tess let out a breath and turned her head out to the sands. The canyons around them seemed to become one giant blur, and her eyes watered from the wind that whipped across her face. The Mandalorian could not see her, but he understood her silence. She didn't know. Gods she really was bad at small talk, he thought to himself. It wasn't surprising, given what he'd learned about the girl. She was blunt and as sharp as a dagger, ready to stab at anyone that came too close. The Mandalorian was again surprised that she was here, with him, instead of back where he knew she was more comfortable.

"You know," he spoke up, and Tess turned back to him. "My ship, it's getting repairs in Mos Eisley right now, but..." He grinned softly. "I could use a bit of help on the inside."

Tess' eyebrows went up. "What ship?"

"An old Imperial model." he answered. "A Razor Crest." Tess snorted, her eyes widening as she thought back to several plans she'd seen of those types of vehicles that the Marshal had brought her. The thing she remembered the most was that they were old. Incredibly old.

"How is that thing still functional?" she asked him. Her voice was light, not weighted down by the uncertainty he'd heard hours ago. Then her words had sunk like stones in a pond. Now they floated like a lily pad across crystalline seas. Her voice was brighter, but not duller. That same sharp edge cut into her syllables, and it made the Mandalorian silently wince. He didn't think he'd ever get used to her voice.

"It works," he replied.

"Well?" she asked.

The Mandalorian paused and thought for a moment, then turned more to meet her gaze. "It works." he repeated, and Tess rolled her eyes. He grinned and turned back to face the front. Tess watched him carefully, mulling over his words. She bit the inside of her cheek and continued to gaze out. The child, situated in his little brown pouch to the left of her, cooed and reached its hands out towards her own. Tess stared at it, a frown on her face, then she let one hand go of the Mandalorian's waist and reached towards it. The child smiled, wide eyes watching her own. She petted it's ear, and it gave a small, gurgling giggle. Tess did not laugh, nor did she smile, but her features softened slightly at the noise.

All was calm.

Tess looked to the rocks they were about to pass, stone of umber and orange blended together, like a canvas of paints swirled to create a colour she could not quite describe. All she knew was that it was a blend of everything Tatooine was, every single grain of sand, every rock on the ground, every clay structure outfitted in the fields. The colour of the rocks on Tatooine were their own entity, and they held history like a living being. Tess sometimes believed that the rocks could breathe and speak, whispering to each other, their words carrying across the wind.

It was silly of course, but just as Tess liked to believe she could do anything, she believed this. She didn't know why, but it made it easier for her to leave this place. If the earth could be living, then Tess did not want to stay. She had always preferred the unfeeling, the metal and wires and programming than the life that seeped through the core of the planet to feed all growing things.

Tess preferred the lifeless to the living.

Suddenly, Tess was jerked back to reality as the world erupted into chaos around her.

The Mandalorian grunted as the front of the speeder bike exploded into flames and was jerked forward, the seat flying upwards, taking the Mandalorian, the child, and Tess with it. Tess screamed as she was sent flying in the air, head spinning and the world turning upside down as her body flailed. The Mandalorian cried out as he tried to gain footing, reaching for the datapad on his arm to steady himself with the jetpack. Pieces of broken metal flung across the ground, spinning, and the Mandalorian was just able to land on his feet when Tess' body slammed right into him.

They fell to the ground. Tess was frozen, limbs aching as she tried to push herself up. Broken parts flew by her head, and she ducked as a large chunk of metal zoomed right towards her. The Mandalorian groaned as Tess fell off of him, and he sat up, helping her to her feet. His eyes widened as she saw a small cut above her eyebrow, and Tess winced as a trickle of blood fell into her eyes. She wiped a tentative sleeve over the wound and looked up at the Mandalorian. He stared back at her, and together they both turned to see the speeder bike they were just riding on explode. Tess gasped. The Mandalorian gripped her arm tightly as they whirled back around to see several strange figures emerging from the rocks.

Tess' breath left her body when she saw they were carrying blasters. The first one raised his rifle and shot at the Mandalorian. The warrior quickly pushed Tess behind him as the rings of ruby blasted at him. Each time they hit his armor, a soft clang erupted in Tess' ears. Her senses seemed to sharpen as fear edged her veins, watching with panicked eyes as the Mandalorian took hit after hit after hit. She stumbled back, eyes searching the ground for a certain green-skinned baby.

Two of the men bounding towards them called to someone Tess could not see. "Get the child!" They weren't talking about her. Tess paused for a moment, breath becoming ragged as something putrid lined her throat. She looked out at the child still struggling to get up, then to the hunters moving towards her and the Mandalorian. Grumbling to herself, Tess moved away from the Mandalorian, running as quickly as she could over to the child. When the baby saw her, it cooed, reaching a hand towards his friend, and Tess held out an arm. But before she could scoop the child into her arms, something tripped her metal leg. It slammed into the steel, and the shock reverberated through her body. She screamed and fell to the ground, knees giving way beneath her.

"Tess!" she could faintly hear the Mandalorian in the background as she crawled towards the child, looking back only once to see a creature her size on the ground, a blaster hole in the side of it's leg. She turned to see the Mandalorian going against three other men, blaster in hand as he kicked and punched and parried the assailants. Tess moved to the baby and picked it up in her arms. It tugged on the fabric of her shirt as she flipped onto her back, scooting across the sands.

Her heart leapt to her throat as she watched the Mandalorian fight against the others. She was useless, numb and full of fear by the attack. Laying several feet away from her was a small blaster, black as night and glistening in the sun. Tess stared at it, then back up to the Mandalorian, who was being held up against the rock by two of the attackers. Tess heard movement beside her, and she hurriedly looked to her left, and saw that the little creature the Mandalorian had blasted was limping back to the rocks. Tess moved farther away. The creature came out with a large rifle in his hands, and he turned it towards the Mandalorian, too preoccupied with fighting the others to notice.

Tess needed to do something, anything, to stop the creature, but she was too far away.

"Mando!" she shrieked, and pointed towards the little creature. The Mandalorian's head snapped up at the sound of Tess' voice, and he looked to where she was pointing. Tess tried to stand up, leg aching from where the thing had tripped her.

The Mandalorian shot out his grappling hook, and it wrapped around the front of the alien's blaster. He tugged it towards him, and the rifle, horizontally flying towards them, hit both assailants on the head. They fell unconscious immediately. The Mandalorian stumbled back, alarms blaring inside his head, bones turning to steel, stomach lurching. All he could think about was where is the child and Tess? The Mandalorian looked up towards where he had last seen Tess standing, but his eyes widened and throat grew hoarse when he saw she was no longer there.

Then he heard it. A quiet whimper. A sound so soft and cruel it made his heart stop.

When he turned a little to the side, that was when he saw them. Tess was holding the child close, tucking it underneath her jacket. Her throat constricted and her eyes flickered with terror as the small creature held a dagger up to her throat. Tess tried not to move, she tried not to speak. Her eyes were trained on the knife pushing up against the soft flesh of her neck. The creature held onto her arm tightly.

It spoke out, but Tess didn't understand the words. The Mandalorian held out his arms in surrender. His eyes never left Tess' face, she finally looked up at him, and a storm raged beneath her irises.

"Wait!" he called out to it. "Don't hurt them." the creature lowered the dagger slightly, but not enough for Tess to be able to move. She kept still.

"If you put one mark on them." the Mandalorian continued. "There's no place you will be able to hide from me." Tess' hands shook and the child cried in her arms. Tears sprung up on the edge of her eyelids as could feel darkness closing in around her. Her body threatened to give way beneath her, legs wobbling and breath constricting in her throat.

The Mandalorian took a small step closer, keeping his hands out to his side. Gods, he thought as he looked at Tess, what have I done? "We can strike a bargain." he said aloud. "There's a lot of value in this wreckage. Take your pick." he gestured towards the broken parts lying about in the sand, smoke billowing from the top. The child cooed loudly, and Tess hugged it closer towards her. The creature's grip loosened, but she dared not move. One wrong step and the knife could be embedded in her heart.

Tess had thought of death often the first few years after her parents died, but as she stood there, standing on it's dark black edge, she wanted nothing more than to turn back to the light.

The creature looked out at the wreckage. "But leave them." The Mandalorian finished. "The child and the girl." Tess' head jerked back as the creature raised the arm with the knife quickly. She squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting to die, but no there was no searing pain. She opened them again as the creature spoke in it's foreign tongue, and she saw that he was pointed towards the armor clad Mandalorian.

Mando looked towards his back, and saw that the creature was pointed towards his jet pack. The creature spoke again and gestured to the ground, bringing the knife closer to Tess' chest. She breathed heavily and grimaced, eyes never leaving the Mandalorian, just as his wouldn't leave her face.

"Okay." the Mandalorian said, his hoarse voice reverberating from his helmet. He reached both hands back and pulled his jet pack off his back, cape billowing from behind him as he crouched slightly and moved to place the jetpack on the sand. Tess lets out a breath.

"Here," the Mandalorian says, his voice wavering slightly when he meets her eyes. "It's yours." Mando stepped forward and placed the jetpack in between them, then moved back with his arms raised. "Take it." He spoke clearly towards the creature. The alien brought the knife back up to Tess' throat, and she whimpered. The Mandalorian held his hands out farther, his eyes watching them frantically.

"Mando." Tess whispered.

"It's okay." he replied, taking a step back. The creature stocked forward, it's tight hold of Tess loosening until finally when they reached the middle, the creature let go of her entirely. Tess didn't wait. She quickly ran towards the Mandalorian. He reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him as the creature grabbed the jet pack and ran out into the white sands. Tess let out a loud breath as the tension that racked through her body released slightly.

The Mandalorian turned to see her as she pulled the child from under her jacket and handed it to him. "You okay?" he asked both of them, breathless, his heart in a frenzy at the sight of the child crying and the blood on her cheek, the outline of the dagger still pressed into her skin. Tess didn't speak, she couldn't speak, and only nodded in answer. They both turned back to see the creature sprinting away, knife forgotten in the sand. The Mandalorian led a shaking Tess out into the center of the rocks and motioned to his arm, where the datapad rested in his armor.

Tess frowned. He pointed to a small blinking button on the side.

"Push it." he told her. Tess looked up at him, eyebrow raising, then moved a tentative hand over the Mandalorian's arm and pushed the blinking button with a stained finger. Immediately, the jet pack the creature was holding burst high into the air, taking the alien with it. Tess gasped as it went high up, and the Mandalorian pushed her finger over to maneuver the jetpack on the pad, and it came flying back towards them, landing in front of Tess.

A couple seconds later the creature dropped to the hard ground. Tess smirked.

She went and picked up the jetpack, handing it back to the Mandalorian, who smiled and took it in his hands. He placed it on his back and watched her. Finally, she turned to him, any fear of what had just occurred gone from her face. Despite the rumbling in her heart, as if a volcano were waiting to erupt and pour molten, boiling magma through her body, the fight didn't make Tess want to turn back more.

She didn't know what to feel, if she was being honest.

Instead, she simply looked at the Mandalorian and said. "Served him right."

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After the run-in with the two assailants, the Mandalorian and Tess had gathered up whatever remaining possessions were not burning or reduced to ashes. The Mandalorian had slung his bow rifle onto his shoulders and Tess had helped him strap the Marshal's armor and any other spare parts she deemed salvageable to the metal. As they worked, the Mandalorian and Tess said nothing. They didn't speak to each other, only gave silent looks that said everything they needed to know.

Tess seethed under the sun as they finally finished packing up and headed out into the desert. She wrapped a scarf around her shoulders which covered her mouth and hair, draping it across her head to keep out the scorching heat that bound up against her. After several hours of walking, she was ready to faint. Her limbs felt like lead, and while all she carried was the child in his little knapsack, the weight pulled her down as if it were iron.

The Mandalorian was even worse. Under his helmet, sweat poured down his face, stinging his eyes and tinging his mouth with salt and brine as he walked, rifle carried over his shoulders with the assortment of spare parts and armor hung from it. He was faintly aware of Tess trudging beside him, her limp becoming more pronounced with each step, scarf wrapped around her head sticking to her hair, slick with sweat.

They walked for hours, hoping that at some point the horizon of Mos Eisley would come and they would be able to rest, to fall into a bed and into the drowsiness of sleep. For the first time, Tess wished to see the town where her parents died again. She wanted to look up and see the small clay buildings silhouetted against the setting suns. She wanted to hear the chatter of the market, the clanging of pots in the kitchens. She wanted to listen to the laughter of drunken men in the bars, or the cheers of children playing bantha ball in the courtyard. Tess could have even settled for pure silence of the entire town sleeping. The kind of silence where nightmares lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce. All she wanted was to see something before her.

It didn't come.

Midday passed to dusk, and soon the inky black of night overtook the planet of Tatooine. Tess' throat burned, her lips parched and her eyes watering from the sun. She trudged along, looking up at the sky, up to where the moon shone bright, an orb of glowing ivory against a canvas of black. Stars shone in the darkness, swirling together, painting a picture Tess always looked at when she needed comfort.

It soothed her to realize how small and insignificant she truly was. It made it easier to wait for oblivion, to become one of those many twinkling stars in the night sky.

The Mandalorian glanced at Tess several times during their walk, his vision blurry from all the sweat. He could see the strain on her face, the pain in her eyes. The fight had clearly shaken her, no matter how much she tried to hide it. The Mandalorian cursed himself. Only hours into having Tess by his side and they had already been attacked. Tess had a knife held to her throat, and their speeder bike was destroyed. The Mandalorian knew that Tess hated fighting. She despised violence, and he'd already put her in a situation of combat. Tess didn't say anything, but he knew she was thinking about turning back.

He would take her to Mos Pelgo if she asked. It was the least he could do.

After several more minutes of walking, Tess' lips opened, air filling her lungs like fire licking at her throat. "How far?" she dared to ask, voice hoarse from the journey. The Mandalorian, who had been trying his very hardest not to close his eyes, turned to her. Her headscarf had blown off her head in the breeze. It now flew behind her as she walked, her dark chestnut curls bounced along as she walked, and her forehead gleamed with beads of sweat. Despite living on Tatooine her whole life, Tess had never quite gotten used to the heat of the planet. She hated the way her whole body felt like it was being pressed into a furnace, heat billowing off her face in waves that made her eyes droop and her legs wobble.

The Mandalorian could see that she was close to passing out, so he spoke calmly. "Look ahead." Tess frowned and turned slightly, then her breath caught in her throat, and she almost fell to the ground. The Mandalorian smiled at her relief.

Ahead of them stood Mos Eisley.

A space port of clustered clay buildings and dancing lights of ships flying into space, the town was always bustling. Something was always happening in the place. Whether it be a celebration or a pod race, to a decimation or a firefight. Tess stopped in her tracks, breath caught in her throat as memories of the day her parents died came flooding back to her. She staggered slightly, and the Mandalorian stopped beside her, his eyebrows scrunching. Tess looked like she was ready to puke at the sight of the buildings clustered together among the sands, and the Mandalorian couldn't understand why.

Meanwhile, Tess was trying not to fall to her knees. That place, that wretched place where her parents had rounded a corner, blasters in hands with unsaid goodbyes on their lips, and died. She struggled to keep her breathing steady as the memory of that day haunted her mind. A voiceless phantom that stabbed at her soul. Her mother, a woman of sly smirks and steady gazes. Her father, a man of soft hugs and kind smiles. She remembers their last look, their last gaze into each other's eyes and the way they squeezed each other 's hands tight.

Goodbye. That was written in their gazes. A farewell.

"Tess?" Tess looked back up to where the Mandalorian had taken a step forward. The child slung around her shoulder peered up at her worriedly. Tess gulped and forced herself to look at him. "Tess? Are you alright?"

She took a deep breath and moved her eyes from the Mandalorian back to the town of Mos Eisley. She squared her shoulders and nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." the Mandalorian did not believe her, but he didn't protest. "Let's go." He said nothing more as Tess went ahead, her hair bouncing upon her shoulders. He followed after her, questions running rampant through his mind, all going unanswered.

Walking through Mos Eisley was worse.

It made Tess' hair stand on end, made her heart seize in her chest. Walking down the sandy streets, turning on alleyways and passing all manner of creatures heading home or to a cantina for a late night drink. Tess found herself moving closer to the Mandalorian, her breath leaving her in short pants, not only from exhaustion, but from the torment of memories. They closed in on her from all sides, suffocating her, making her remember. She hated remembering. It was a special kind of torture, to have images of her past swirl up and blind her.

The Mandalorian watched her without saying anything, but he noticed how she stiffened at every sound, how her eyes darted back and forth into each and every alleyway. How she seemed to have a familiarity with the streets better than a stranger new to town would. Whatever had happened to Tess here, it hadn't been good. They rounded each corner together, the Mandalorian with bundles carried on his shoulders, and the mechanic with a green child in her bag. Eventually they came to an open square, and across the way stood a cantina, forged from clay with a sign on the front in Galactic Basic. A little to the side of the entrance two jawas were fighting over a trinket Tess couldn't make out, and she followed the Mandalorian hesitantly into the bar, her eyes searching every nook and crevice, body on high alert.

Nothing good ever came out of Mos Eisley, and the worst of the worst could always be found in the cantinas.

When they entered, Tess was immediately hit with the stench of alcohol and the blaring noise of harsh music. A round countertop was found in the center of the darkened building, and all manner of creatures sat around, drinking or eating or playing cards. The Mandalorian stopped and turned to make sure Tess was still with him, then continued on to the older woman sitting in one of the booths, her voice carrying over the buzz of conversation. Tess raised an eyebrow but followed after the Mandalorian swiftly. Several folks turned to watch the armored warrior and small little girl with keen interest. Tess could feel several pairs of eyes follow her every which way, but she held her head high and continued on. She was used to being stared at, most of the smaller children in Mos Pelgo couldn't look away from her and her strange demeanor.

But these eyes felt different. More... threatening.

"I don't know..." the woman Mando was heading towards spoke up to the alien sitting across from her. Tess frowned, wondering who she was. She had frizzy dark hair that erupted like a halo around her head. Wrinkles lined her face and she wore a maroon jumpsuit and fingerless gloves.

"Looks like someone's gonna be goin' home empty-handed." the woman continued on. Mando and Tess stopped in front of the table, and Tess' eyes didn't leave the woman. The insect looking alien that Tess didn't recognize made a series of chirping noises and the woman shook her head. The woman put down her cards and glanced at them. She did a double take when she saw Tess standing beside the Mandalorian.

"What, you pick up another one?" the woman asked, then saw the armor hanging off the Mandalorians shoulders. "And you finally found a Mandalorian, then killed him?" Tess' scowl deepened and Mando looked towards her.

"He wasn't Mandalorian," he finally said. "I bought this armor off of him, though." He didn't address the girl standing beside him, holding the little green child the Peli Motto had grown so fond of in her arms. The woman assumed that was enough, if the Mandalorian was willing to let the little girl hold the child, then she could be trusted.

"What'd that set you back?" she asked Mando.

"We killed the krayt dragon." Tess replied, her voice like thunder clouds pouring over the sun. It cut into Peli's skin and she took a closer look at the girl, but could see nothing behind eyes she couldn't look at for long.

"Oh," Peli said sarcastically towards them. "Is that all?" Tess took a step forward but the Mandalorian held out a foot which stopped her from moving any farther. Peli looked Tess up and down, then turned back to her cards. However, the woman could still feel the girl's gaze on her, like a buzz of electricity had shot a current into her skull.

"He was my last lead on finding other Mandalorians." Mando spoke up, keeping a shaking Tess from launching herself at the woman. The insect alien turned to Peli, and Tess raised an eyebrow at it as it spoke to the woman. She looked back to the Mandalorian, who had his head held to the side as if to say; don't. Tess shrugged and her face softened. No promises. The Mandalorian smirked.

The woman held out her hands to the creature, trying to get him to calm down. "Okay," she turned to Tess and Mando. "Well, you might be in luck." Tess raised a brow, her nose crinkling. "Dr. Mandible here says he can connect you with someone who can help you, if," the woman spoke the last word so harshly that Tess jolted back. She slammed into the Mandalorian's chest who looked down at her swiftly. Tess recovered and moved forward again, her face darkening.

"— you cover this round." Tess opened her mouth to protest. "It's what he said."

"That's not fair." Tess spoke up. The Mandalorian hit the back of her leg again, and she winced, glaring at him.

"What's the bet?" he asked them. The child cooed at Tess, and she looked down at it, unable to deal with the woman or Dr. Mandible. She might have been heartless, but Tess wasn't a cheater, and nor did she lie. The woman bit the inside of her cheek and thought for a moment.

She said. "Five hundred." Tess' mouth dropped open.

"That's insane!" she exclaimed, and this time the Mandalorian did not correct her.

"That's a high stakes game." Mando told Peli. The child nodded it's little head in Tess' arms as if he could understand the situation. Tess and the baby shared a look. The woman shuffled with her cards as she tried not to look the girl directly in the eye, something about her made Peli understand that she was volatile. Highly volatile. The problem was, Peli always liked to push people's buttons, and the girl was no exception.

"Hey, he's on a hot streak." the woman said. Tess' mouth turned into a thin line.

"I bet he is." she growled under her breath, loud enough for only the child to hear. He perked up and looked into Tess' eyes. The girl would most likely never get used to how the child peered at her so innocently, as if he were completely unfazed by her cold demeanour. Peli glanced at Tess, and Tess stared back coolly. Dr. Mandible spoke up, and Tess shook her head, closing her eyes and massaging the bridge of her nose. The Mandalorian sighed and reached into his pocket, ignoring Tess' disapproving look.

He threw the money onto the table and Peli glanced at it. "Is the pot right?" Dr. Mandible answered quickly. When he finished, Peli eyed them swiftly before letting out a barking laugh. "Ha! Idiot's Array!" she threw her cards onto the table. "Pay up, thorax!" Tess sighed and looked down at her feet as Dr. Mandible grew angry and shook one of his long arms. Peli jumped up and grabbed the money, stuffing it into her pockets.

"I thought you said he was on a hot streak." The Mandalorian stated.

Tess snorted. "Clearly not."

"Oh, stop your cryin'." Peli replied. "You'll rust." Tess' hands curled into fists at the woman's patronizing tone. Dr. Mandible spoke quickly to the side of Tess, and as Peli cleaned up her cards, her face slackened.

"All right." she continued, turning the Mando and Tess. "He says that the contact will rendezvous at the hangar." Dr. Mandible spoke again. "They'll tell you where to find some Mandalorians. That's what you wanted, right?"

The Mandalorian turned to Peli. "Yes."

"All right, well, stop your mopin'" Peli went past them and started towards the entrance. "More importantly, did you bring back any of that dragon meat?" Tess rolled her eyes and followed after them, sticking close to the Mandalorian's side. "Better not have any maggots on it. I don't like maggots." Peli complained.

Tess spoke up. "What makes you think you get any?" she asked the woman.

Peli turned to Tess, gave her a once over, then looked towards the Mandalorian. "I like this girl." was all she said. 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE. 

Well there is it folks! the first chapter of short circuit in episode two of the Mandalorian: The Passenger. I don't think you guys understand how excited I am for this next episode! a lot of people regard this episode as the worst of season two, but I personally LOVE IT! These next few chapters will give us a lot more fluff between Mando and Tess and really flesh out their relationship a lot more, so be ready for that because I'M SO EXCITED. Another note; my spring break is coming up soon which means I'll have a lot more time to write, so I'm hoping to get out a chapter every two days or so and hopefully finish Act one before the end of my break! I'm incredibly excited to continue writing this story and I don't think you guys are ready for THE ENDING, I literally had an epiphany about it and I planned it all out and it's SO GREAT I'M SO HAPPY... 

ANYWAYS, what did you guys think of this chapter? What did you think of the attack on Mando and Tess, and about how even though it was a fight she didn't leave him? ALSO, we got to finally meet Peli! She's honestly such a queen I love her and her and Tess have a really fun relationship because they are both hard-headed mechanics (omg the banter!). What did you think of Tess' memories of her parents death, and about the Mandalorian starting to realize something about her past? It just gets more juicy later on, so stay tuned! 

As always, don't be afraid to comment or vote on anything you like, I LOVE reading your comments they make me so happy. Until next time (where we meet the icon, the legend, the queen herself: FROG LADY). 

Love, Mal