CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE.

THE ACCUSED

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

"WHAT?" DIN ASKED. Tess frowned at Ahsoka's comment. She couldn't train them? How was this possible? Tess wanted to be angry, like the Mandalorian was, but then she looked down to her quivering hands, to the metal sphere encased within her palm, and a flicker of understanding dawned.

"Why not?" Mando continued, turning on Ahsoka, his hand leaving Tess' shoulder. "You've seen what they can do." Tess flinched a little, and the sphere dropped from her hand. A wave of exhaustion, as always, pooled over her, an inky rich blanket that smothered in the need for sleep, despite only being midmorning. Tess' legs threatened to give way beneath her.

Ahsoka spoke as if Tess and Grogu weren't standing right beside them. "They're attachment to you makes them vulnerable to their fears." Tess' frown returned, this time in full force. "Their anger."

"I am not scared." she spat out, her voice lined with an icy venom. Ahsoka looked at her sadly, pitifully, and it only made Tess more frustrated.

"That is all the more reason to train them." Din argued, cutting in between Tess and Ahsoka.

"No." the older woman said, her tone too quick to be just an argument. She stepped forward. She looked at Tess, and the girl hesitated, noticing a new layer to the woman, a new side, a pained side; a weaker side. "I've seen what such feelings can do to a fully trained Jedi Knight. To the best of us."

Din and Tess said nothing, their hearts softening.

Ahsoka looked at the girl, her face as sincere as could be. "I will not start you down that path." Tess turned away, her eyes finding the child, sitting on a rock, watching them innocently. She couldn't help but wonder how someone so small, so blameless, could hold the same power she did, and not let it consume him. Tess couldn't even think about the Force without her hands starting to ache.

"Tess," Ahsoka's voice drew her eyes back to the adults in front of her. "You said you wanted the Force gone?" Tess nodded slowly, her eyes alight with fire. "There is a way." It felt as if she'd dropped into bottomless space. The Mandalorian could see this, see her slightly swaying on her feet, and he walked closer, prepared to catch her, as he always seemed to be doing, but Tess was able to gain ground again, coming back to reality.

"How?" she asked swiftly, her voice hoarse. Ahsoka's eyes were downcast, but she didn't hesitate for long.

"Your abilities will fade." She answered plainly, and Tess sucked in a breath. "Over time, they will simply... wither away."

"How long?" the girl asked. Ahsoka shrugged, her face grave, which did nothing to assure Tess of anything.

"It depends." was all she answered. Tess's stomach rose to her throat. Her mouth went dry at the words. The Mandalorian instinctively stepped closer to her as Tess began to shake.

Everything she'd done, the entire reason she'd left Tatooine. All Tess had endured. Her parents, her solitude, her leg, it had all been for this. For two simple words that changed the fate of her entire life. For nothing.

She'd left the sands of her home, left the comfort of her mechanic's shop, the arms of the Marshal, the sunshine smiles of Jo; she'd left it all to go with the Mandalorian and find a Jedi who could rid her of this power.

This Gods-forsaken power. The energy which brought unbidden memories rising to the surface, the power that caused objects to float around her as nightmares haunted her consciousness. The divine, crackling surge which brought an ache to her cold, rusted heart. It was a fire, a fire that not only melted the ice inside of Tess Oprin, but burned the rest of her with it. She couldn't keep it.

She'd been beaten, bruised, drowned, and bloodied to get here, in front of a Jedi, and feel the sweet release of the Force gone.

Her entire life, Tess had strived to feel nothing at all, to be as emotionless, as closed off as she could so that nothing could ever hurt her again. Then this power and everything that came with it —Mando, the child, their journey—, tore through her walls and started to break her down. The adventure she could live with, the guardian she'd found she wanted to stay with, but the power... It had to go.

"No." Tess whispered, her voice coarse and rough. "No." Ahsoka raised an eyebrow as Tess looked at her, her eyes narrowed and swimming with crystalline tears. "You can't."

"Tess, that is the only way—"

"Take it away!" she yelled her voice rising above the noises of the forest, a thunderclap, a strike of pure, molten lightning. It singed through the trees and dirt like a sword. "Take this power away!" she lunged at Ahsoka, her eyes unfocused, unable to see exactly what was in front of her. For the first time in her life, Tess was no longer cold.

She was burning. She was burning like a newborn star.

"Take them away!" the Mandalorian grabbed onto her arms, looping his own with hers, holding her to his chest as Tess cried out. "Take them away!"

"I can't." Is all Ahsoka replied, but this only made Tess angrier, her body thrashing, hands shaking.

"Tess, Tess, hey!" the Mandalorian yelled. Her cheeks blazed red, eyes furious, and Ahsoka watched her sadly.

"No!"

The Mandalorian spun her around, gripping her shoulders tightly. He knelt down to come into eye view with her. "Tess, stop!" the girl paused for a moment, breathing heavily as she stared past his head. "Look at me." she didn't. "Come on, Tess, look at me." he head tilted, eyes meeting his own under the blasted helmet. Her pupils were a cold azure, face twisted like cracked marble.

"No." she whispered, her voice breaking. "No."

The Mandalorian nodded, concerned, anxiety worming through his gut. "Yes. Yes." Tess shook her head, lip puckering. "Tess, it can't be taken away. Your power, she can't fix it." Tess' features warped, and a tear ran down her cheek. A part of the Mandalorian understood what this meant. She'd already known the truth, she'd always known the truth.

Her pleas and anger were just a way to cover up the pain.

Din moved closer. "I made a promise, Tess. I made a promise to help you, to protect you when you left with me. It's the same promise I made to the child." Tess looked up. "And I will never break it. For as long as I live, I will keep you safe." and then he reached down and held onto her hand, gloved and calloused and bruised. "This power is a gift, Tess. Now, Ahsoka can't take it away, but it will fade in time. And that's what you want, right?" she had no voice, so she merely nodded. "So in that time... you can... you can stay with me."

Tess looked at him sharply.

"If you want to." Din quickly said at her frown. "I'll keep you safe until your powers fade, and then..." then it's your choice. He didn't need to say the last sentence out loud for her to understand. Her brows furrowed, and the tears stopped coming. She was frozen in place, staring at him.

Then, after a moment, release pulsed through Tess' body, and the girl seemed to crumple in his arms, even if she stayed standing. Without saying another word, Tess nodded, a soft, almost imperceptible nod, but it was enough to end the discussion and make a decision. Ahsoka watched in silence, seeing the girl's shoulders sag and the Mandalorian stand. Tess turned back to Ahsoka. The woman gave her a small smile.

She said nothing, but nodded her head, the closest to an apology that Ahsoka would ever get from her.

The tension was gone, Mando's words cutting through it like a knife.

Tess stood up, her knees threatening to give way under her, her hand staying comfortably in the Mandalorians. She took deep breaths to calm the dizzying whirlwind that erupted under her skin. The anger, the fear which Ahsoka had warned her against, spun through her, taking control. Now she understood the danger which Ahsoka referred to. It was like a shovel, carving out the light parts of her non-existent heart. And it scared her, this spark to the Force inside of her. It felt that if she wasn't careful enough, it would swallow her whole.

Tess took another breath, her head tilting upwards to face a placid Ahsoka. There were no signs on the older woman's face that Tess' outburst had affected her more than she'd shown. The Togruta was good at hiding her emotions, Tess could tell, just like her. She wondered what had happened to the Jedi to make her this way, why the idea of training Grogu and Tess seemed out of the question.

There had to be more to it than just the fear and anger.

Tess did not voice her concerns, she was too tired and ashamed for that. The burning continued, heating her insides until she was on fire, she was set aflame by the guilt. By the fear. Tess frowned at the ground, her steel-toed boot poking at the dirt. The other two waited, watching her. Ahsoka's strange-coloured eyes bore into that of the Mandalorians, but his attention was on no one else but the girl still holding onto him.

Finally, Tess looked up, and the look that reached them was nothing like the one they'd seen mere moments ago. "What about Grogu?" she asked quietly, her eyes trained on the background, unable to focus on those right in front of her. She was distancing herself, just as she'd done a million times before, with the Marshal and Jo, when their attempts to love her became too much to bear.

Ahsoka sighed before answering. "It will be better to let his abilities fade also." she stared at Tess. "That is the only way." Tess clenched her jaw but said nothing. "I've delayed too long. I must get back to the village." Ahsoka finished, turning away.

Mando stepped forward, dragging Tess with him. "The Magistrate sent me to kill you." he said, with enough force for the woman to pause. They continued to walk forward, the child whining from his spot still on the rock. "We didn't agree to anything." Now she turned, her eyes wide.

Din paused before continuing. "I'll help you with your problem..." Tess resisted the protest that blossomed on her tongue, swallowing it like the evening swallowed the sun. "if you see to it that Grogu is properly trained." The fact that her name was not mentioned did not go unnoticed by the two parties, and for that Tess was grateful.

Ahsoka shared a dark look with the child, whose innocence was an aura, a physical presence amidst the tension. Tess' fingers twitched, remembering the calm that came from rubbing one of his fuzzy green ears. The babbling, the games, the light in his wide eyes.

Soon that would all be gone. Soon he would leave. There was a sharp tug inside Tess' chest, and her lungs heaved at the thought. Stop, she willed her furiously beating heart, not now. Then... not ever.

Ahsoka's voice came out misted and unsure. "Fine."

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

"She has a small army of guards armed with A350 blaster rifles," The Mandalorian explained as they started on their way to the village. Tess stumbled along, a little ways behind Ahsoka and Mando, her steps wonky and her legs sore. But she soldiered on. She would not let them see the impacts of the previous conversation.

"Two HK-87 assassin droids, and a hired gunfighter." Din continued. "He reads ex-military to me." Tess thought to the man in town, grizzled and reeking of history long-forgotten. "Combined, not even your laser swords would be able to protect you from all that firepower." Tess smirked and Ahsoka smiled.

"True." she stated, pausing in their march. "But don't underestimate the Magistrate either." Tess and the Mandalorian looked at each other, knowing better than to dismiss her words. The two had been underestimated their entire lives, so they had no doubt that Ahsoka's words were true.

"Who is she?" Din asked. "She offered me a staff of pure beskar to kill you. And she offered Tess protection in the temple." the girl shuddered at the thought, at her pleading for her to stay. There was something off in her tone, a strained chord that Tess suspected wasn't norma for the woman.

She pushed the worry away, not needing another trouble to burden her.

"Morgan Elsbeth." Ahsoka replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "During the Clone Wars, her people were massacred. She survived and let her anger fuel an industry which helped build the Imperial Starfleet." Ahsoka turned, her face somber, and Din and Tess listened intently. "She plundered worlds, destroying them in the process." Mando looked towards Tess, then up to the barren wasteland of half-deceased trees that lay about them.

"Yeah," he said thoughtfully. "It looks like she's still in business." Tess frowned at the joke, her thoughts straying to her ride out of Mos Pelgo, to those displaced in the Empire's meek struggle for power after the Death Star was destroyed. To the little boy she would have killed to have silence instead of a death from the Tuskens.

She'd let her anger fuel her then, the grief of her powers still a bitter taste on her tongue.

Ahsoka nodded her head slightly. "When you were in the city," she said, turning back to them. "Did you see any prisoners?" Tess' breath tightened in her chest.

"Yeah." she breathed out softly, barely enough for the others to hear.

"We saw three villagers strung up just outside the inner gate." Mando responded.

Ahsoka began to pace back and forth. "We must find a way to free them." Tess gulped, knowing what was about to entail. A fight. Some sort of skirmish, and she would undoubtedly be a part of it. She looked down to her hands, still shaky from the test, from the raw explosion of power. The Song of the Force, as Ahsoka called it.

"A Mandalorian and a Jedi?" Din said out loud, hsi tone light. "They'll never see it coming." Ahsoka cocked her head to the side to look at him, a hint of a smile on her face. Tess, despite it all, smirked at the thought.

"And me." she said to them, her voice expectant. They all turned to look at her, and the determination that seemed to settle against her wool clothed shoulders. Tess crossed her arms and leaned heavily to one side, no doubt her leg would be aching by all this walking, but she didn't let it show.

Mando walked towards her, putting a hand against her forearm. "Are you sure?" Tess craned her neck up at him. It was plain to see that he didn't want her to go with them. Ahsoka watched, silent and knowing, at the exchange between the Mechanic and the Mandalorian. Tess was settled, her mind made up, never straying off-course, whereas Din's worry and care got the better of his judgement.

His promise overpowering any balance within him.

"I'm sure." Tess finally replied, her gaze unnervingly still. "I'm coming."

Mando sighed, remembering the multitude of similar exchanges they'd had since she'd joined him. Tess determined to be of some use, Mando trying to dissuade her. It usually ended in tragedy, the girl he'd sworn to protect getting hurt. A knife held to her throat. A broken rib and a head wound. Almost drowning. Under his helmet, Din's eyes narrowed.

For someone whose whole life had been bent on neutrality, Tess was disturbingly stubborn when it came to joining him on missions.

The strangest part was, Tess knew it. She knew that her decisions to accompany him could only lead to danger, something that brought a scorching fury to her mind. And yet, she couldn't stop. Maybe it was her stubbornness, or her understanding that nothing could hurt her more than her past already had. Or maybe it was something deeper, something no one could explain. Something only the infinite Universe could understand.

Both Tess and Din realized this at the same time, their looks mirroring one another, and Mando nodded, Tess blowing out a breath.

"Alright." Din said plainly, and Ahsoka's eyes widened, an eyebrow raising at the look of utter relief on Tess' face. The girl paused, her features still.

Then she said, to no one in particular. "Let's go."

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

By the time they reached the outer gates of town, night had fallen clouded and cold.

Tess and Din had split from Ahsoka halfway to the town. The plan was for the woman to enter through the front gates and lie that she had killed both Tess and the Mandalorian. From there, the two would sneak up the wall using his jetpack and try to rescue the captives near the temple while Ahsoka fought off the rest.

As they hurried through the forest, the tall concrete stone barricade growing larger in the distance, Tess bit down on her lip. Not for the first time, she regretted her decision. It seemed to always be like this. Her determination was a blockade to better judgement, until it was too late. Until there was no going back. It had happened with the Krayt Dragon, with her choice to leave Mos Pelgo. Every decision she made, a tiny sliver of regret would puncture her heart, and soon enough it would consume her.

"Here we are." Mando whispered, and Tess stopped as he raised an arm, keeping her from ramming into the wall. In the distance, the sound of gunfire and wreckage reached their ears. The duo paused, waiting for the signal. Sure enough, just as Ahsoka had promised, the town descended into a cacophonous silence.

With that, Tess took a deep breath and looked up to Mando, who nodded once. She nodded back, a silent exchange. She held out her arm, and the Mandalorian took it, gripping her close to his body. Tess tucked her head against his chest as Din hit the controls on his wrist, and soon they were soaring upwards, hot fire blasting from the ends of his pack.

It was a small trip. Mando landed just on the other side of the wall with practiced ease. Tess scrambled a bit, her stomach lurching, thankful to be back on solid ground. She pulled away from him, gulping in air, and braced herself against the wall. Din took a concerned step forward at her shut eyes, but Tess shook her head.

She shook her metal leg, hoping to warm up the rusted gears. There was a spasm, and she gritted her teeth, but it passed moments later, and release poured out of her amputated limb. She took another deep breath and peered back up to the Mandalorian, who watched her anxiously. The murmur of voices could be heard near the temple. Tess and Din turned towards the noise. The girl looked back at her guardian, an expectant look on her face.

Mando nodded. "I'll go to the prisoners from above." he told her.

"And I'll go from the ground." she finished. It was what they'd discussed on the way. It would be safer for Tess on the floor, where she could hide and get to safety if anything went astray, whereas the Mandalorian would be flying straight into danger. The thunder of footsteps on stone caused Mando and Tess to back away, farther into the shadows.

It seemed Ahsoka was leading the guards away from the innocent. That meant it was time for Tess and Mando to make their move. Din turned, preparing his jetpack, and Tess gripped her small stun blaster concealed in the pockets of her coat. The metal was cool to the touch against her exposed fingers, and she hissed softly, pulling away.

"Ready?" Mando asked, pulling Tess' attention away from her ricocheting thoughts. Tess' throat was closed, a lump welling at the back of her mouth. She nodded sincerely, her eyes wide. Din frowned and stepped forward, holding onto her arm reassuringly. Tess stared at the floor.

"Be safe." she finally said, her voice small. "Please."

Mando sighed, his breath fogging up his vizor, so that Tess was a dark blur in his eyesight. "I will be, Tess. Don't worry." She scoffed and pulled away, crossing her arms.

"See you soon." she remarked coolly, and Mando grinned. With that, the man was sent up into the air, flames protruding from his back, and the girl started down the dark, empty alleyways, sticking to the shadows.

Soon, blaster fire could be heard in the distance, and Tess paused, her stomach clenching at the all-too-familiar sound. But it did not deter her. She wound her way through the buildings, silent and still. The villagers were all hiding in their houses, most likely afraid to see what all the commotion was going on outside. Tess' leg thumped louder than she would have liked, but it was hardly anything above the shots that fired into the quiet night. Tess tuned out the noise, a blur in the background that threatened to overwhelm her.

But she continued on, the purpose for her being there set in her mind. To save the villagers. To keep her promise to Mando. By helping Ahsoka with freeing the town, she was earning her freedom to lose her powers. It was a strange but gratifying idea. And it kept her will hardened in the pit of her stomach. She would not let the sound of a battle deter her. Surely Mando had killed the rest of the guards by now, and the villagers were being released from their prisons.

If anything, by the time Tess got there, the others would be safe.

She should have been paying more attention.

One moment, Tess' thoughts were faraway, thinking of the Mandalorian and the villagers. The next, a heavy weight collided with her stomach, and Tess was flung backwards, her back hitting the ground before she rolled, hitting a crate. The breath was knocked out of her, and Tess gasped, her body crumpled from the force of the hit.

Tess's mouth puckered as she lifted her head up, her vision blurry from the force of impact. In front of her, the attacker was a blur, a spot of darkness against the dim lights. She could tell it was a man, and his dirty blonde hair glinted in the lantern's glow. Tess shuffled back on her hands, metal leg scraping against the stones. Her lungs seized in her chest, her back screaming in pain from where she'd landed.

Foam frothed at her mouth at the spasm that ran up her leg.

A rough, calloused hand grabbed onto the metal of her leg, their nails digging into the exposed gears and bolts. It only furthered the pain, and Tess screamed, her shrieks erupting through the silence. Another hand went to her hair, and she was thrown backwards, crashing into a stack of wooden grates. Splinters dug into the wool of her coat as Tess' hands rose to cover her head. Her lungs collapsed, her leg aching as if it were burning from the inside out.

At last, Tess' vision shifted into focus, and she bit down on her tongue until the figure came into focus.

The first thing she saw was a smirk playing on scarred lips. Then sharp cheekbones and dirty blonde locks that fell lazily over blazing eyes. Her eyes shifted to the cloak that shrouded his garments of boiled leather and mismatched assortments. There was a holster at his hip, but the blaster was in his hands. The man was a dichotomy of posture and grime, decadence and the lack thereof.

He watched Tess with a look of utter fascination, and Tess' shoulders ached as she backed away, tripping over the broken wood. The man walked forward slowly, acting as if he had all the time in the world. For a second, Tess was reminded of the Marshal, with his effervescent charm and the grace of a burdened warrior.

But where the Marshal was kind and cared for his people, it was clear this man only cared about himself and getting paid. And right then, Tess was sure that she was how he got there.

"So.." the man spoke out, as shards of oak dug into her gloves. "You're the girl." he posed it like a question, as if she were to answer, but obviously Tess could do nothing but cough, blood pouring from a gash on her lip. The man laughed, and it was clear he found many things amusing.

"What?" she croaked out, slipping onto the pavement, crawling back on her hands, her metal leg limp before her. Whatever the man had touched when he'd wrenched her back, it was enough to clog the gears. Tess had never felt anything like it.

The man watched her, his lips going upwards into a smile. "I saw what you could do, kid." Tess cringed at his tone, the amount of awe in his voice. "On Trask, to those two wicked men." The girl didn't stop moving, her legs giving way beneath her, blood staining her pale skin. Her head was ringing, the firefight in the background like an unceasing drumbeat. All she could see was the man, terrifyingly amused at her pain.

"What the hell do you want?" Tess spat out, and with enough force that for a moment, the man paused. The old fire had returned to her voice, the syllables that cut like daggers, the storm that raged beneath the consonances. It was enough to give anyone pause, enough to stop a trained assassin from pulling out a blade.

"Look, kid." the man said softly, his blaster still pointed towards Tess. "It's nothing personal. It's just business." Tess couldn't crawl any farther, her back hitting a wall, a dead end. Around them, lights flickered through the frosted windows. Somewhere, Tess thought, the Mandalorian was waiting for her. He'd finished freeing the villagers, and Ahsoka had defeated the Magistrate. Now they were wondering where she'd gone. Or maybe they weren't. Maybe the Mandalorian searched around and found nothing but empty space. Maybe he thought she'd left him, for good. The conversation from earlier finally got the better of her, and she'd bailed.

Tears sprouted in her eyes. The man grew closer, and soon he was kneeling beside her, that smile still on his face as the gun went to between her ribs.

Was this how it would end? Was this how Tess would finally fall into permanent oblivion? In a back alley of a disgraced town, by a mercenary she barely knew. A man who wanted nothing more than a stack of credits to waste on unimportant things.

"No." she almost didn't realize she'd said it, and it was only because he stilled that she did. "No." she said again, forcefully this time as sensation awakened in her leg. The man frowned, and Tess' shoulders stiffened. Something in her face had changed, the man realized dimly. No longer was there pain in her features, and sitting there, half slumped against the crates, face smeared in vermilion, she looked like nothing more than the little child she was. Barely adult, face still soft despite the harshness, eyes still naive despite the storm.

A child. A child that, if she wanted, could topple empires and start revolutions, burn cities to the ground with the flick of a wrist, kill without any sign of injury. There was a force inside her, and not just from the power beneath her flesh, but by something deeper, something rooted in the rotting crux at the center of her heart.

The spy tightened the grip of his gun, fingers shaking over the trigger.

But it was too late. Tess glared, her face scrunching, nose wrinkling in concentration, before she brought her metal leg towards her chest, and kicked. It was quick, a mere flick of her leg, but the heavy steel hit the mens shin with enough strength for something under his skin to shatter. She could feel it through the leg as her metal limb thrummed with the force of the hit.

The man yelled and fell backwards, gun falling from his hands to land beside Tess. his hands went to his leg as he closed his eyes, hissing out curses. Tess got to her feet, wavering, her leg near useless. She picked up the gun, not giving herself time to realize what was in her hands, before she started to run past the man.

It wasn't enough, however, and she was too slow. The mercenary reached out and caught her by her flesh ankle. Tess tripped and lightened her fall with her arms, but she'd been caught off balance. The man tugged on her legs, and Tess shook. She screamed out in frustration, tears pricking her eyes as he tried to scramble on top of her, reaching for the gun still clasped tightly between her fists.

"Get off!" she yelled, and threw her head back so that she hit the man's already mauled face. He grunted and his grip loosened, but it wasn't enough for Tess to wiggle free. His calloused hands were close to her own, his weight like a lead brick on top of her, pinning her lungs to the ground.

And all she could do was call his name. "Mando! Mando, HELP!" a child's plea, a scream for aide, not at all like the quiet mechanic of blunt words and honest truth. Tess Oprin never begged, yet here she was, grappling with a man that would eventually overpower her, the strength quickly leaving her frail body.

And so she cried. She cried and screamed and kicked, bared teeth and bloody hands, but it wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

She'd cried for her parents that day, and all she'd been left with were corpses, their love the only light still in their eyes, hands empty. She'd cried when the blaster bolts entered her calf, searing, burning through the skin like a craven animal hungry for flesh, and all she'd gotten was a poorly made sack of metal to replace a part of her. She'd cried when the Krayt Dragon destroyed her forge, her safety, the rope that tethered her to Mos Pelgo and its people, and all she'd gotten was conflict placed upon her shoulders.

Now she cried for him, the Mandalorian, the only person she'd ever truly trusted, the one who made her a promise, the one who always seemed to catch her when she fell.

Tess was twisted around, and the man's bloodied face went up to hers, anger fuelling the ragged breaths caught between his throat. Her arms were pinned, and the gun was seized from her hands, jabbing into her stomach.

"Like I said," the man seethed out, and Tess could tell that he had a chunk of tooth missing from where she'd hit him. "This ain't personal." Tess closed her eyes, her body stiffened, and the gun burned against her side.

BANG!

She cried. She waited. She felt weightless.

Then... nothing.

The weight on top of her loosened, and the mercenary's hands fell from her arms. Cold metal pressed against her side. There was a thud beside her.

"Tess!" She knew that voice, modulated and coarse, like the weathered sandstone from her home planet. Strong arms wound under her own lifeless ones, and Tess was pulled upwards, her head resting against soft metal plating. She tilted her neck upwards, all the energy leaving her body as the adrenaline wound down, as the realization sunk in.

She wasn't dead. She hadn't been shot. Instead, the smiling man lay on the ground convulsing at the wound which had incinerated his shoulder. He was the one who'd been shot.

"Tess, can you hear me?" The voice came again, and the girl forced her gaze to focus on the sleek metal helmet that peered down at her. Hands lay on her arms, and the Mandalorian rested Tess against him with the gentleness of the calm after a storm.

"Din?" Tess said meekly, her voice horse.

The Mandalorian let out a sigh of relief, throwing his head back to smile up at the heavens. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you? What happened?" Tess could only shake her head, the words having left her. But the Mandalorian didn't need an answer, not really.

He pulled her gently upwards, supporting her as best he could, holding the shivering girl against him. She leaned into him, burying her face near his shoulder, chest heaving. Gasps left her as air returned to her lungs, as life was breathed back into her body.

"He... He was sent...'' she gulped. "I don't know... he saw my powers..." the Mandalorian frowned at the last part, but it was clear Tess wouldn't elaborate further, exhaustion slurring her words. She looked down through his arms to the man wheezing on the ground, blood pooling out of his wound. His eyes were wide and watched them in that same twisted awe he'd watched Tess with.

The Mandalorian took one last look at the blonde man with the scars, then gripped onto Tess tightly. "Come on, Tess." she whimpered. "You're safe now. The village is safe now."

And with that, Din and Tess left the spy to succumb to his injuries in the darkened alleyway of Caladin, gripping each other like they would never hold one another again.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Tess' swollen fingers grazed over the soft green of Grogu's ears.

She gazed at him absent-mindedly, smiling softly at his wide, innocent eyes. She sat on the cot, her metal leg pulled up onto the mattress. Stitches lined her bottom lip, and bandages criss-crossed over her back beneath her shirt.

The town had been vanquished, the Magistrate and her group of followers defeated, freeing the people of the death and destruction that had left them weak and vulnerable. Ahsoka had apparently gotten the information she'd wanted from the Magistrate, and in return, had given Mando the beskar spear he'd been promised.

Now, with Tess' wounds patched up and the mercenary nowhere in sight, Mando and her had retreated back to the Razor Crest to get Grogu and bring him back to Ahsoka.

It was a bittersweet thought that this little green creature was leaving them. For some reason, Tess didn't want it to end. She didn't want to say goodbye. It hurt her to think about, and even more to actually witness.

"You're gonna be okay, little guy." Tess murmured to Grogu. Behind her, Din stalked up to the ship, taking off his jet pack and setting it gently down on the floor of the ship. Light seeped in from the open bay doors. It seemed that the perpetual smog of Corvus had lifted for a day, revealing crystalline skies and a bright, blistering sun. The heat was more of Tatooine than a swamp, and Tess was grateful for the slight reminder of her previous home.

The child cooed as Tess scratched his head, and the heavy footsteps of the Mandalorian sounded until he stopped beside her. Together, the two looked down as the groggy child awakened from his nap. They shared the same sad smile. The same dark eyes.

"It's..." Mando started slowly. "Time to say goodbye." Tess looked down to her lap, her hand slipping. The child frowned, his wrinkled brow creasing at the lapse of movement.

Din reached forward and picked him up, Tess following after him as he set the child down against a counter, and began to clean up the child's frayed smock. Tess leaned against the counter, watching them with that steel gaze of hers.

It wasn't hard to tell Din was delaying the inevitable. Grogu babbled as Mando cleaned him up, and Tess stared in silence. They spent several minutes like this, in the calm quiet, before Din finally stopped and picked up Grogu, holding him to his chest. Tess smirked, and they all turned together to head out back into the forest.

When they reached the bottom of the ship, a stark voice called out from in front of them. "You're like a father to him." Ahsoka Tano stood before them, hands tucked into the pockets of her dark grey cloak, a tempered look on her face. At the word father, a pull ached in Tess' heart.

"I cannot train him." Ahsoka continued. At this, they stopped once more. Tess' eyes widened, but the Mandlaorian was unreadable, as still as a statue.

"You made me a promise..." he said coolly. "And I held up my end."

Ahsoka sighed and stalked forward, her eyes downcast. Then, she reached out and gripped onto Grogu's three-fingered hand. "There is one possibility." she answered, thoughtful. "Go to the planet Tython. There you will find the ancient ruins of a temple that has a strong connection to the Force." Tess' mouth opened slightly. "Place Grogu on the seeing stone at the top of the mountain."

"Then what?" Din and Tess asked at the same time.

"Then..." Ahsoka replied. "Grogu may choose his path." But in her words, Ashoka's gaze fell on Tess. "If he reaches out through the Force, there's a chance a Jedi may sense his presence and come searching for him." Tess gasped, sighing out deeply. "Then again... there aren't many Jedi left." Grogu babbled sadly, as if he understood her words.

"Thank you." Tess whispered, so softly it could barely be heard. "For everything." Ahsoka nodded.

"May the Force be with you." she said slowly, and took one last look at Tess, who squirmed under her knowing gaze, before Mando tugged on her wrist, and the trio turned, stepping up the ramp of the Razor Crest.

Ahsoka Tano watched in silence as the ship doors closed behind the figures, and the ship soared into the air, never to return. 

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Y'ALLLL I'M SO SORRY IT'S BEEN AGES. So for a while this story was on hold, but then I went on vacation and realized that there are only 7 chapters left of this book??? and I was like, why am I holding off on completing this fic if there's only that many chapters left? so here we are and I can't wait to continue writing this!!!

ANYWAYS, what did you guys think of this chapter? What are your thoughts on Tess' outburst, it really was building up this entire time and I hope it didn't seem too abrupt. ALSO, thoughts on the Mercenary/Spy??? He might not seem like much now, but I promise you he's a really cool character and is not just gonna be someone who's trying to kill Tess. Plus, we've finished up with episode five!! 

As always, don't be afraid to comment, vote, and follow me!! Until next time (where Tess get's philosophical and our space fam arrives on a certain temple planet...)

Love you, Mal