CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

THE FALL

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

TESS'S HEARTBEAT WAS a ceaseless chant in her ears.

Her hands were at the sides of her head, legs tucked close to her chest. Beside her, the ground was ravaged like an open, bloody wound. And if the floor was flesh, the dirt was the blood, pouring out of the greenish grass, sprayed up her legs, burrowing down into the crevices of her steel limb. It coated her face and left prints in her hair.

Beside her, the Mandalorian turned to rest on his knees, hand on her shoulder, the other occupied by a slim blaster. Tess was whimpering, the shots that had fired ringing out through her head. The intruders were right behind the boulder they took shelter in. Tess was sure they meant harm, and that voice drowned in gravel left shudders down her spine. They had a sniper, someone up above who had almost shot Tess.

Whoever they were, it wasn't hard to imagine they were here to kill the trio. The thought brought tears to Tess' eyes.

"Mando..." she whispered through shaky teeth. But Din did not respond, and instead held up a hand, signalling her to stop. Tess did, scrunching her eyes closed, as if in pain as silence reigned down on the halted battle.

"Tess craned her neck to watch as Din slowly moved around her, keeping his gun level with his chest, pointed outwards. Her eyebrows furrowed, eyes widening as she saw what Din was doing. When he looked at her, the girl gave him an incredulous look, question on her features, but all the bounty hunter did was shake his helmeted head and continue on.

Din Djarin slowly made his way out of the protection of the stone, his hands out to his side, head stiff and shoulders rolled back. Tess twisted her body to look after him, panic fluttering inside her chest, back aching. She wanted to scream at him, to question what he was doing, to tear her hair out as his insane actions, but all she could do was watch, helpless. A lamb in a world of lions.

"Are you Jedi?" the Mandalorian asked, his voice rough. "Or are you after the children?" Tess held her breath and turned her head, eyes peeking over the crude rock, landing on a cloaked figure standing atop the hill, two staffs slung over his back. The man's face was shrouded in darkness.

As if the man had read her thoughts, he reached up and pulled off his hood, revealing a scarred and battered face, with weathered skin the colour of sand and dark, beady eyes that were similar to Tess'; a storm as dark as night. Her breath caught in her throat as the man stepped forward, making his way down the strewn path, his disarming gaze passing over the spot Tess watched him.

She ducked down, breathing in deep as Mando stepped farther out into the open.

"I'm here for the armour." the man spoke up. Tess frowned, thoughts immediately going to the glistening, smooth Beskar that Din wore.

"If you want my armour, you'll have to peel it off my dead body." Mando called out starkly. Despite it all, Tess smirked, noting the extra bite in Din's tone. She guessed he'd been through this exact scenario many times before. It wasn't surprising, given how valuable Beskar was. Tess thought back to the Mandalorian armour she'd fixed for the Marshal. It wasn't of the best make, but it was exhilarating to repair something so precious.

"I don't want your armour." the man responded, which halted any thoughts that ran through Tess' head. "I want my armour that you got from Cobb Vanth back on Tatooine." Alarm wormed it's way through her body, and her hands curled to fists.

Tess slowly got up from her spot, legs shaking under the weight of her body. She walked out of the safety of the boulder, limping to stand behind Mando. The moment she appeared, the older man turned his disarming gaze to her. He frowned as their eyes met, and Tess' coarse features were an even match to that of him. Her frown reminded him of childhood, when tragedy followed him like a shadow and the only place he felt at home was in the midst of a violent storm.

"What do you want with the armour?" the girl's voice rang out as cold as ice, yet her features were warm. The man took a long look at the little girl, knowing where she'd come from, a place of heat and blistering discomfort, and could see how she'd never truly belonged.

"It belongs to me." he told both of them. Din put a hand to stop Tess from moving any farther, his lips pursed under his helmet.

"Are you Mandalorian?" He called out, and Tess'. Her metal leg throbbed from where the steel meshed with the skin and bone of her knee. Under her pant leg, her limbs burned, as if fire was licking at her bones from the inside.

The man paused before responding in a monotone voice. "I'm a simple man making his way through the galaxy." Tess cocked her head to the side. "Like my father before me." Tess refrained from rolling her eyes, biting down on her tongue to keep from saying something she'd regret.

Din was clearly not convinced. "Did you take the Creed?" with each word, it sounded like he was choking out the sentence, each syllable a burden on his tongue.

The man's eyes darkened as Din's question. "I give my allegiance to no one." Tess gulped, her insides squirming at their exchange.

"The Beskar belongs to the Mandalorians." Din said. "It was looted from us during the Purge." Tess thought back to when she first met the Mandalorian, and her anger at him wanting back the armour she'd made for Vanth. Then, she hadn't understood why the armour meant so much to him, but after seeing the lengths Din went to for the pile of metal, she'd understood. The armour was his past, a vessel of all he'd had when he was younger, where he'd come from.

"The armour was my father's." the man called out. "Now it's mine." Tess stepped closer to Din.

"What's to stop me from dropping you right where you stand?" He challenged, blaster still raised.

The man took no time in answering. "Because I have a sharpshooter up on that ridge," Tess' breath caught in her throat. "With a locked scope that will unload by the time my body hits the ground."

"I'm the one wearing Beskar." Din called out, and pushed Tess behind him, blocking the man and the sharpshooter from view. "As soon I see the muzzle flash, you're both dead."

"I didn't mean she was going to shoot you." the man responded, and the smile fell. "My friends locked onto that little companion of yours up on the henge." Tess glared, calling out to him.

"Don't!" she said, but her voice was drowned out by the sharpshooter's rough edged voice from over the hill. "And if you remember, I don't miss." Din grabbed Tess' arm, pulling her back while the man looked at her quizzically. She glared at him, and he smiled.

"Fennec?!" Din's uptight, alert voice drew Tess' attention back tot he sharpshooter.

"You have a keen ear, Mando." the woman, Fennec, replied. Tess watched Din, a question in her eyes. He knew this woman? Mando shook his head lightly to Tess, a warning to stay quiet, and turned back to the man.

"You point that gun away from the kid," he called out for everyone to hear. "Or I'll drop you both where you stand." Tess' hands curled into fists, and the air seemed to squeeze the life out of all those present. The man held his arms out to his side, face dark.

"Let's all put down our weapons, have a chat." he said calmly. "There's no need for bloodshed."

"You're the one who's holding a kid at gunpoint." Tess pointed out harshly, and at last, the attention of all present was drawn to her. The man raised an eyebrow at her comment, and above, Fennec gripped her blaster tightly, hearing the threat in her voice. But Tess didn't care. All she could think about was the child, sitting helplessly on the rock, reaching out through the Force. Innocent. Naive. Powerful. He didn't deserve this to be his end.

Din sighed and spoke up. "Tell her to drop the gun." he said, in a more relaxed tone than Tess'.

"After you put down the jetpack." the man answered, and Tess grumbled, biting on her tongue.

"Same time." Mando replied. Tess stepped back to come in line with him, her head bowed. The man nodded once, then craned his neck up to Fennec.

"Stand down," he called up. In an instant, the woman was standing, her blaster pointed away, and hurried down the side of the rock. Tess watched her. She couldn't see her face, as it was hidden by an intricately made helmet painted in a harsh red-orange and black. Mando reached back, unhooking his jetpack from the armour. One by one, they all laid down their weapons, the only one not moving being Tess, whose blaster was hidden in the pocket of her coat, out of sight.

When they were all done, Fennec had reached them, and her helmet was off. Underneath was a woman of harsh frowns and raven black hair, with pursed lips and warning in her eyes. Tess' heart did a leap at the sight of her. The woman didn't so much as glance her as she stopped beside her partner.

Together, they looked like an indomitable duo. Tess shifted from foot to foot.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost." Fennec said to Din, who stood stock still beside Tess. the girl, eyebrows raised and eyes narrowed, looked between them all, feeling exceptionally out of place.

"You were dead." Din responded.

"She was left for dead on the sands of Tatooine," the man replied, and at the mention of her homeland, Tess' heart gave an aching lurch. "As was I." At this, he looked down to Tess, and her eyes widened, wondering if he knew where she had come from. "But fate sometimes steps in to rescue the wretched."

"In my case, Baba Fett was that fate." Fennec spoke up, then reached down to a panel of cloth across her stomach, pulling it back to reveal something Tess had often dreamed of since she was just a little girl, wandering the desert with the weight of grief on her shoulders. Machinery, matching the type of metalwork as most droids, was crowded into Fennec's flesh. Tess watched as the gears, bolts and wires whirred and moved as the woman breathed in and out. It was a tear in her flesh, a replacement to what she had been.

And once upon a time, Tess had wanted that.

"I am now in his service." Fennec finished, closing up the exposed stomach.

"I want my armour back." Boba Fett said cautiously.

"Well, you can't have it." Tess growled through gritted teeth, her tone the end of a matchstick hitting stone. A flare lit at the end of her tongue, and Boba Fett glared down at her. Mando put up an arm, protecting Tess from the others.

"It goes against the Mandalorian Creed." He spoke quietly.

"The armour was given to my father, Jango, by your forebears." Boba said harshly, and the sincerity in his voice was enough to give pause. "In exchange... I guarantee the safety of the children, as well as your own." Their thoughts grinded to a halt at Boba's words. Tess narrowed her eyes, clenching her teeth until an ache pulsed at the back of her jaw. She gave the man and woman suspicious looks, not hiding the distrust she had for them.

"The bounty on your little friend has risen significantly." Fennec spoke up, gesturing back up the mountain, to where Grogu still sat on the seeing stone. "And a new demand from the empire has put a price tag on this little girl's curly head." Tess bristled at Fennec's mocking tone as she looked at her, but Mando didn't seem to notice, his focus on Fennec's words.

"There's a bounty on Tess?" he demanded.

Fennec nodded. "You can buy ten suits of armour for the price of their heads." Din took a deep breath and looked down to Tess, whose gaze was firmly on the grass in front of her. Her shoulders were stiff, and Fennec's words rolled around inside her head. Bounty, the price of her head, there was a bounty out for Tess. It became more ridiculous with each second she thought about it. Then her mind went to the mercenary, smirking, claiming his kidnapping of her was nothing personal, just business. Empire business.

"I'd say we're offering a fair deal under the circumstances." Boba Fett called out, and Tess couldn't help but agree. Despite past doubts, Tess Oprin had come to the conclusion that she very much didn't want to die. Not yet, at least.

Not when she'd finally found a home.

Their conversation was cut short by the distant sound of spluttering engines. Tess turned to Mando, who craned his neck upwards. Everyone else followed suit, their eyes searching the skies for the source of the sound. It came in the form of a simple styled ship, flat and old from the looks of it. Carbon scoring was visible from down below, and Tess would have done anything to get anything on a piece of junk like that.

But she wouldn't, because that ship was no ordinary ship. It was not simply passing through the system to enjoy the sights of Tython. It was here for a reason, and everyone realized at the exact same moment that that reason was them.

The reaction was instantaneous. Din and Tess turned to each other, their eyes heading to the top of the mountain, where the sky lit with molten sapphire. Her head turned back, sharpening on the ship, the all too familiar design, descending to the ground.

"Empire." she breathed, the word leaving the taste of dirt and blood on her tongue. "Mando, that's the Empire."

"I know," he said quietly. "I have to get back to the Child." her neck was aching from the strain. Their eyes locked, and there was a pause. Fennec and Boba prepared themselves, helmets on and guns at their side, keeping the girl and Mandalorian in the corner of their vision.

At last, Din spoke again, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Tess, stay with Fennec." shock rippled through the air.

"What?!" Tess exclaimed. Fennec sighed from under her helmet, but didn't refuse, and stepped forward quickly. She nodded to Boba once, then to Din, and went to grab Tess' arm. "No -- let go of me. I'm going with you." She was so sincere it nearly stopped the tension in its tracks. "Hey!"

"Tess, I promise, it'll be over soon. Just stay with them, Okay?" Please. Tess's eyes softened, but her muscles were tense as Fennec wrapped slim fingers around Tess' forearm.

"Let's go, kid."

"But-"

"I said let's go." Tess closed her mouth, swallowing down the bile that rose in her throat at the sight of Mando's turned back, moving up the bushes and the rocks, towards the other kid. The kid they'd both give hand and foot to save. The kid was more important than anything. More important than her.

"Fine." she gritted her teeth, spitting out the syllables with as much venom as she could muster. Fennec's brows knitted, and pulled Tess roughly around, away from the crest of the hill, down towards where Boba Fett was disappearing into the thicket. The sun was warm against her back, limbs throbbing, her leg keeping her slow.

"Stay behind me," Fennec grumbled. "And if any one of those bastards comes near you, kill them. Or scream." Tess made a face, but curled her hands into fists, letting the energy rush back into her body. The weight of it nearly stopped her in her tracks, but she didn't pause, not even for a second.

The Empire was here. They'd found her. Again.

Their hands were apart, their limbs strewn in unnatural ways. Tess squinted, trying to get the images out of her head. The same ships landed in the streets of her home, and the man in black pushed her away from her parent's bodies. Her screams echoed through the streets, and the bodies moved towards her, pulled by some unseen string. Tess' foot caught on a stray root, and she grunted as Fennec whirled to keep her from toppling over, rough, plopping her behind a large boulder. Tess instantly became aware of the sound of blaster fire, cacophonous, unceasing, and Tess' breath grew wide in her chest.

"Kid, hey, listen!" fingers waved in front of her face, and Tess snapped her gaze to Fennec. "Snap out of it, okay?"

Tess opened her mouth to speak, but her jaw was clenched too tight, her hands shaking too violently. "You need to focus." Fennec had seen this before. In many others, previous kills, previous friends, even in herself. The departure from reality, the drowning of reminiscence. The past come up from the dead. It was hard to escape from, even more to banish permanently.

This girl couldn't fight it, she wasn't even trying.

"They're-they're here for us." Tess spoke, quivering. "For-for me. The Empire." Fennec nodded. "I need to get to him. To the child."

"No." the bounty hunter answered plainly. "No, you're not. You're sticking with me and staying alive long enough for us to get off this planet. Then you can go back to your precious kid and Mandalorian." Tess shook her head.

"No."

"Yes."

"I can't."

"Oh for God's sake." Fennec exclaimed, aware that the gunfire was getting closer and closer by the second. "Look, the Empire hurt you before, didn't they?" Tess' eyes widened. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but they hurt everyone. Everyone has lost at least one person to the Empire, it isn't new. You aren't special." Tess' lungs were caving into her chest. Her mama, her hard-edged, calloused fingered mother, the life drained from her sullen eyes. "But you are alive."

The girl's head froze. She peered up to where Fennec's eyes were barely visible in the thin slit of her visor. This woman, crowned in crimson and black, holding onto her shoulders with an iron grip. Alive. What a stupid, wasteful, disgusting thing to be. To have a heart, to feel the pain, to go from one day to another, weathering the storm with each passing moment. The one thing Tess had never wanted to be.

And in just a couple seconds, a reformed bounty hunter with a face of sculpted wood had torn it all down.

And that was it.

Tess' head nodded, fervent and unrelenting. Her back straightened, and her eyes narrowed to slits, like a sand serpent ready to pounce. Tess let Fennec help her up, even let her guide her down to another cropping of rocks. Boba had moved away, now out of sight, but the shots of blaster fire was still within range. Tess pocketed her blaster, ignoring the older woman's harsh glare of puzzlement, and bent down to fidget with the wires of her leg.

The tension that had been forming from the day's excitement wore down, and she was allowed to breathe again.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Fennec paused for a moment, and though she'd never say it out loud, a flicker of something like admiration fluttered in her chest. She nodded, and held up her gun. "Stick by me, and we might just make it out of here with our lives." It was in the silence that a pact was made, a bond of tentative trust, handing both equally blackened hearts to one another, and ensuring they would be safe.

"Then let's go." Tess said impatiently.

They started down the crest of the hill, heading away from Din and the Child. Tess' hands balled into fists, and Fennec gripped her blaster as if she were floating out in space, and it was the only thing keeping her from drifting on forever. The ground under them shook, or was that just Tess? She couldn't discern the two, all she knew was that something was quivering, a tremor under her feet, that threatened to throw her off balance and knock some sense into her. Even as she tried to quell her racing heartbeat, her body tried to get her to turn around, away from the fighting.

But if she did, then all would be lost. They needed her here. Din needed her here.

The first soldier that came into view, all Tess could see was Mos Eisley. His armour was stark white, lined with the darkest black, and it thudded against him as he clumsily made his way forward. She witnessed the fire consume the sandy streets, tripping over hundreds of lifeless bodies, some she knew, some were barely older than her. She felt the stormtroopers grip on her little arm as the Moff said to dispose of her, to throw her away and let her join the rest of her family.

Fennec didn't even have time to draw her weapon before the trooper was sent flying forward, as if an invisible rope had twisted around his middle, and she watched speechless as his body crumpled in half, suspended in mid-air for a moment, before being wrenched to the side, landing in a heap near the thorn bushes.

Tess let out a rough gasp, sucking in air. Her outstretched arm, twitching fingers and race pulsing, dropped back to her side. Her widened stance made her look bigger than she really was, stronger than she often appeared.

"You really are one of them." Fennec's tone was breathless, light, but Tess was keen, and she heard the warning in her voice as well. She turned away frowning, and said nothing.

"Believe me," she muttered. "I wish I wasn't." but Fennec was too preoccupied to hear, turning back to the spot the soldier came from, and Tess stiffened as she saw more helmeted heads appear from around the bend. It was hard to ignore the ache in her chest, the burning sensation crawling up the ground. It was as if her anger, a molten, tangible thing, had increased tenfold. Living, breathing, burning. More dangerous than it had ever been before.

It was the Force, she realized with a bitterness. This place was full of it, and it enhanced everything she'd ever hidden away in her.

"Let's get this done." she muttered, and as the stormtroopers came into view again, Tess did not hesitate.

She let the anger take over. Fennec barely had to do a thing, for the moment Tess' fingers spread wide, each and every man was flung in a different direction, screaming as their armour contracted around them, bodies convulsing into unnatural shapes. The moment she called on the Force, exhaustion sparked inside her, a warning that she was not ready to use this much strength, that just like in the battle against the Krayt Dragon, it would become too much too quickly.

But Tess didn't care.

"GET DOWN!" 

Tess dropped to her knees, gritting her teeth as her leg banged against the stone. She was just able to fall behind a rock before three blaster bolts whipped past her. Fennec knelt beside her, firing down the ridge, and Tess pulled herself up, peering over. Her hair fell in sweaty clumps around her face, and she breathed hard, head pounding. Adrenaline breathed new life into her bones. For once, she didn't resent it.

The scene laid before her eyes was like a carefully drawn battlefield. Boulders and shrubs led down to the clearing below, where the Imperial ship sat solemn and threatening. All the way up the ridge, specks of white shifted in and out of sight. Short bursts of red light crackled with energy, sparking across Tess' vision for a brief moment, before it faded back into the green mosaic. The troopers were getting closer, their shots aimed better. Tess took a small, fleeting glance up the mountain, hoping she'd see a glint of shining silver armour.

A confirmation he was still there. That he'd still come back for her.

There was nothing.

"They're coming up!" Fennec grumbled, and the frustration was clear. Tess took a deep breath, ignoring how her legs shook furiously under her soiled pants. In that moment, she looked every bit a criminal. Tattered and worn clothes, a too-large and too-warm cotton jacket slung over bony shoulders and sharply lined features. Ruddy hair and ragged cheeks and a metal leg to top it all off.

The only attribute that tore that down was her eyes. They were a child's eyes, still young and naive under the storm. Those eyes were scared, and everyone knew that real criminals were never scared.

An explosion of dirt and roots and she staggered away, landing on her back, as more blasts erupted around the safety of the boulder. She gasped as her ribs, still tender, ignited with pain. Her head throbbed from the noise. Fennec cursed and grabbed at Tess' arm, hoisting her back up and looking straight in her eyes.

"Can you run?" she asked. Tess looked in confusion, and Fennec sensed the uneasiness in her. "Damnit kid, can you run?" she gestured to Tess' shoddily made leg.

It took the girl a moment to answer, wasting precious time, but eventually, she spat out. "Yes." It was apprehensive and not at all confident, but it would have to do.

"Good." Fennec answered, and turned toward the collection of rocks to their left. "On my mark, run across those rocks, then head back to the top. Back to the Mandalorian."

Tess argued. "He told me to stay with you."

"Yeah, well, he was wrong." Fennec hissed. "There's too many of them and they all want you. Up there will be safer."

"I can handle myself now."

"Believe me, I know." Fennec's answer was enough to startle Tess into submission, and after one more piercing glare into the side of the woman's helmet, her shoulders slouched in resignation.

"Fine." She said, more to herself then to Fennec. She didn't admit that her chest had started to ache a little less, that her body no longer trembled in fear.

"Ready?" Fennec asked. Tess did not reply. "Go!"

She was slow on the uptake, her leg making it awkward to climb up onto the rocks. But when she did, Fennec pushing at the small of her back, Tess understood why she needed to be quick. Why she needed to run.

The stormtroopers had set up an automatic blaster cannon, pointed directly to where Fennec and Tess had sprung out. The bolts were fired in rotating intervals, relentless and just clipping the backs of their heels. Tess ran with all the might of a raging beast, pumping her arms, gritting her teeth, biting down on her tongue to ignore the clank of her static leg. Fennec was inches behind her, but Tess didn't look back, not even once. There was only the rocks and blaster fire and the roar of her heart in her ears.

She made it to the other side of the walkway with the heat right on her back, and practically jumped to reach the cropping before steadying herself against the cool stone. Fennec's blaster was firing, pointed down below. Tess didn't have time to rest, not even to catch her breath, because the woman was back to hounding her, pushing her forward with not a care if the girl tripped.

"Go!" Fennec yelled in her ear. "Stick to the side of the mountain."

Tess whirled on her, standing unsteadily, unsure of what to say. Fennec paused, and after a second, nodded her head once. A goodbye. A sign of trust. Tess gulped and returned the favour. Then, with a heavy breath, turned and continued to run.

Fennec watched the girl go, frowning to herself, before going back to firing away at the Empire. She and Boba had sworn to protect the girl and the baby.

Fennec just hoped to the Gods she'd made the right choice.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

When Tess was three years old, her parents had found her waddling around the market stalls in Mos Eisley. She was just a little thing, with muddy brown curls and cheeks too large for her bony face. She ambled down with a small metal gear twisting in her chubby fingers, a worn down trinket she'd stolen from a broken astromech a couple months back.

Fascinated by the small gear that could fit two things together as if it had always been one, she'd kept it close ever since, wearing it as a ring, sometimes as a necklace with some old wire, and sometimes as a hairtie or just an old fidget toy. The bolt was rusted and made of old iron, but Tess cherished it like she had nothing else more prized. Her parents laughed and allowed her to keep it, teasing that it was a sign from the Heavens she was meant to be with machines.

It was ironic how right they had been, and how much that had cost them.

Now, nearly 12 years later, Tess could still remember the feel of that gear in her palms, the smooth, silver-brown metal against her ruddy skin. She could remember it as if she still had in her hands, as if it were yesterday. As if she hadn't thrown it away while on the caravan leading out to Mos Pelgo, tears stained her eyes as she chucked it away from the barge, watching with a seething fury as it sunk into the shifting dunes.

Why had she done that? Why had she decided to let go of that nifty old bolt?

Because it reminded her of them. It had reminded her of her parents, of their little house near the market, and of the day the monsters came to rip it all up. Slowly, through time, Tess had given up the parts of herself that were theirs, a way to forget everything she'd come from, and everything she'd lost.

So when one day the Marshal sat next to her on the sand cliffs watching the sun set, and he'd asked her about her family, Tess had no answer. She couldn't remember. Not the feel of her mother's hands on her cheeks, not the sound of her father's laughter, they were broken fragments left to float in the depths of her subconscious, barely alive, nearly turned to dust. She'd told Cobb as much, in blunt unflinching words, she'd told him she didn't remember, then to never ask her again.

She wanted that back. She wanted it all back.

Tess scurried up the side of the mountain, heading towards the tall peaks, where Din was surely waiting, protecting Grogu. Every once in a while she paused, gasping out a breath as her chest tightened with exertion. While used to sweat and heat from her forge on Tatooine, Tess had come to the conclusion that she wasn't cut out for physical activity. This was why she'd never gone to combat lessons with Jo in town, why she stuck close to her home and never farther than she dared.

Everyone knew Tess didn't fight, yet here she was, once again.

"Hold on, Din." she muttered, tuning out the sound of gunfire down below. "Hold on." it was more a plea than anything else, a way to reassure herself. She needed to get to him, she needed to-

Tess stopped, gasping. Hands going to the side of her head, an incessant pounding thrummed up from the nape of her neck to the top of her skull. She planted her feet on the unsteady ground, back hunched. Eyebrows knitting together slowly, her eyes twitched as the headache grew. The Force. She knew it right away. That angry, spear-like strength that turned to light when it reached the floor. The push and pull of good and evil she'd come to know fighting inside her.

It was trying to tell her something. Trying to warn her? Or trying to break loose?

"Hey, kid." she froze. A familiar drawling voice knocked the breath right out of her. Tess didn't turn around, but she could feel the figure walking slowly towards her. The shifting of rocks under his feet gave her the awareness he was limping, injured on one leg. She knew the feeling well. He was drawing closer, but still Tess could not move. She let out one squeaking breath, hitching on her throat.

And then she ran. One foot in front of the other. She ran, ignoring the pain in her leg, ignoring the growing weight on her shoulders. Pumping her arms up and down, staggering over rocks, Tess Oprin tried everything in her power to get to the top.

It was in vain. The mercenary grabbed her leg, pulling hard on the metal, and Tess grunted as she lost footing, hands splayed out as she landed on the ground, pebbles rocking loose. She kicked his hand away, getting back to her knees, crawling up the side of the mountain. The mercenary leaned back. His leg was still injured from the last encounter with the girl, and his many scars glowed pink in the midday sun. Golden hair and tanned skin and hungry, yet sorrowful eyes. Tess didn't care to look at him.

But he was adamant. The man grabbed her forearm, wrenching her around so that she laid on her elbows, head bouncing from the adrenaline, and her stormy eyes met his. The man raised his blaster, small and sleek in his large hands. She breathed heavily, pursing her lips and watching him with as much contempt as she could muster.

She tried not to show fear. She knew the lengths this mysterious bounty hunter went to. But as she tried to quell her own spite, Tess noticed his hands were shaking fervently. The barrel of the gun teetered from left to right. His eyes went up to the cloudy blue sky, as if he was searching for something.

Tess reached out a hand, channeling the weight in her, biting her lip with strain, and the man looked back at her in surprise as he was thrown back, pulled away, and she wasted no time in getting back to her feet. The ridge of the mountain was close, and Tess was now aware of the small glint of metal near the edge of the cliff.

"Din!" she called out harshly, with the same anger and intent she'd had the day her shop was destroyed, pushing away the Marshal in her loss. Now she screamed for a different reason, for fear and hope and desperation. "MANDO!"

The mercenary was back on her heels, limping up the side of the mountain. She looked down at him, hair falling into her eyes. Her body shook with a numb sense of fatigue, and the weight was too much to do anything with. The Force was telling her to stop, that she couldn't keep going like this.

Damn it all, she thought, and continued up.

It all happened at once.

A figure appeared form behind the rocks above Tess, crowned in silver and armed with Beskar. She grinned when they met eyes, and under his helmet, Din heaved a sigh of relief. He called her name, soft and pleading, before a hand reached out and snagged around her waist. Her eyes widened as the mercenary hung onto her and pulled her back. Her legs gave way under her, body breaking down from the stress, sleep dulling her senses to the point of unconsciousness. Din ran down as the Mercenary threw Tess back down the hill, smirking up at the Mandalorian.

"We'll always find 'em!" He called out as Din pulled out his blaster.

Then the second hit. An ear splitting boom rocked the earth under their feet, and Din's head whipped up to see fire raining down over the clearing where the Razor Crest had once been. Tess' head hit rocks and stones as she rolled down the hill, stopping at the edge of the clearing, her body a crumpled heap on the floor.

Rubble fell around her as the mercenary started to run, watching the Mandalorian's ship be reduced to ash. Din flew after them, his entire world crashing down at the sight. The ship was gone, Tess was gone, and...

Din stopped. He forced his neck upwards, turning slowly to look back up the mountain, the way he'd came.

The blue light was gone. The beam of Force that had protected the child from everything around him had disappeared, meaning Grogu was vulnerable, unsafe. Din cursed under his breath, turning her head back down the hill. Right into the eyes of a storm.

Tess leaned on her elbows and sucked in a breath as white fire ran up the side of her leg. The metal was dented, wires rocked loose from their carefully constructed bolts. The red and blue strips poured out of the gash like blood. Her lungs tightened in her chest, but when she looked up, watching Din pause on the crest of the hill, all else seemed to fall away.

He could see the fear in her eyes, like the clouds had parted in the middle of a rainstorm, revealing the fading sun behind. Tess watched him, standing motionless as the remnants of the Razor Crest faded like a dying star. Tess saw from the corner of her eyes the limping mercenary stalking towards her, flames reflected in relentless gaze. Back to Din, an understanding settled in Tess' gut, rotten and unforgiving.

He saw it too.

The impossible choice he was about to make, and the girl he was about to leave behind. Her lips parted slightly, a sigh leaving her, along with all the turmoil that fought inside her body. Tess raised her bleeding head, calloused hands pulling her body to face Din. She was so small, shaking from head to toe, and under his helmet, Din grimaced.

A tear slipped down Tess' cheeks as the mercenary appeared at the edge of the bushes. Din took one flurried step towards her, but Tess glared at him, shaking her head furiously. No, she mouthed, a whisper he couldn't hear. Save Grogu, she breathed, quicker, and her lips trembled.

"It's okay." She said out loud. "It's okay." louder, her voice hoarse. "Go, Din." He still wouldn't move. "GO!" her screams were enough to disturb the quiet that Tython radiated, the balance of the Force broken by the shrieks of a little girl.

Din looked at Tess, wishing she could see the pain on his face, wishing she could know how he felt. The anguish was enough to swallow him whole. But it was done. Decided. Din nodded once, slow, hoping it was enough, then turned his back on her. She watched him go, lump in her throat, vision going blurry at the sides. Din ran up the hill, back towards the child, who now lay limp on the seeing stone. The whir of engines above announced the arrival of a faction long thought dead.

Tess raised her eyes to sky, ignoring the glare of the hot sun, she was used it by now.

For the first time in her life, Tess Oprin had done something selfless.

The mercenary stooped over her, and Tess shut her mouth with a snap, jaw clenching to the point of aching. She went rigid, the copper taste of crimson on her lips. But still she did not relent. "You're a coward." she said, voice weathered like ancient stone. "Working for them."

The mercenary grinned. "What do you know about it, girl?"

At this, Tess smirked, showing red-stained teeth that from a certain angle, appeared like fangs. "Everything." He stopped for just a moment, not for the first time perplexed by the nature of this Tatooinian. There was a flicker of... something. Familiarity, maybe? Or something else. He did not let himself think about it any longer.

He pushed it away, just like everything else. Dripping charm and unbothered smiles, the mercenary holstered his gun and reached to pull the half-conscious Tess into his arms. She squirmed and fought against him. Even half-dead, she was powerful. She could still bend the nature of the world. But it was too hard, too draining. Tess fell into a sea of calm, and she was not awake to see how the rest of the battle played out.

She did not feel a thing as the mercenary walked her back to his little ship and sped up into the sky. She did not feel the terror of witnessing the emergence of the Imperial Star fighter come into the atmosphere. She did not see that Din was unable to make it back to Grogu in time, a legion of dark droids snatching the child away, just as she had been.

She did not watch as Din fell to his knees in the clearing of his destroyed ship, tears falling down his hidden face, two objects clasped tightly in his gloved hands. A strip of fabric from his coat and a metal sphere. She did not hear him call out her name, swearing vengeance on the Empire that now had her shackled, two force sensitives under their control.

No, when Tess Oprin woke up, it was in a small dark room, head resting against one wall, body crumpled against the cool metal.

When Tess Oprin woke up, she peered right into the eyes of the man that had destroyed her life. The man she could remember only in dreams.

Moff Gideon smiled as she jerked back, eyes widening, legs unable to move. They'd taken her metal leg, ripped it off from her knee. A frightened, guttural sound erupted from her lips.

It was like she was ten years old again, seeing her parents laying in the sand.

"Welcome back, Tess." the Moff said. He smiled widely, and her heart shattered.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

I HATE THIS SO MUCH. Honestly my least favourite of the chapters in act two but it's important so this is what you're getting. I hate it here ugh... ANYWAYS lots to come in the next three chapters (ONLY 3 LEFT WTF?) and I can confirm it's not gonna be a fun ride for either Din or Tess. She's now in the custody of Empire, Din is grappling with his IMMENSE guilt of leaving her behind, and we will get a lot more insight into the mercenary and his true origins, ooooo... 

Pls let me know what you thought of this chapter! Just one comment is enough to make my day and don't forget to vote!! Love you all, and see ya next time <3