"Once we deliver the bounty back to Greef," Din tells Cressida. "I want to take you somewhere..special."

Cressida feels her heart constrict. She doesn't want to go somewhere special with...Din.

It's only going to make leaving him all that much harder. She forces the corners of her mouth  to go upward.

"Sounds...mysterious." Din chuckles softly and Cressida can feel her body responding to Din's beautiful deep voice.

"I wouldn't say it's mysterious, cyra'ika," Din says. "But it'll be worth the effort."

"Uh oh," Cressida tries hard to keep her tone light, despite of this awful heaviness beginning to settle in her chest.

"Sounds like whatever it is, we're gonna have to break a sweat."

"It won't be terribly difficult," Din says quickly. "But yes, there will be some hiking involved."

"Maybe I should just let you carry me." Din chuckles again and Cressida fears if be doesn't stop, it's going to be her undoing.

"I could. If you insisted." Cressida tries to chuckle, too, but it comes out weak.

"I'm sure whatever it is, I'll enjoy seeing it with you."

"Yes," Din says softly.

Cressida forces another smile. She figures that she may as well do as Din wants.

After all, it'll be their last time together.

......

Cressida decides to allow Din to turn in the bounty to Greef, alone.

He doesn't protest. Cressida is glad for the silence while Din's gone. She needs this time alone to figure out just when and how she'll slip away.

Obviously, she'll have to do it when Din is either hunting for another bounty or when Din is..asleep.

She knows it'll hurt him and Cressida doesn't want to cause Din any pain.

However, if doesn't leave, Din will end up...dead. And knowing that she'd been the one to kill Din Djarin, is far too much for Cressida to bear.

As much as Cressida doesn't want to cause Din any hurt, she knows that he'll eventually move on and will continue with his life, as a Mandalorian and a bounty hunter.

And without having to worry about rather the people who want her dead, are going to kill him, too.

...

Once Din hands Alzone Geer over to Karga, he takes a long stroll in the town, not wanting to rush back to Cressida.

Normally, Din would have been eager to return to her. However, something was gnawing away at him, from the inside out, regarding Cressida.

Ever since she'd rescued him from the Sarlacc pit, she'd seemed..distant and almost..cold towards him.

At first, Din thought he was imagining things. He thought that maybe the reason Cressida was pulling away from him, emotionally, was because she felt guilty about the fact that he'd almost died because of..her.

Which was most likely the truth.

Except...the more Din thought about it, the more he began to wonder if it had more to do with the fact that they'd...made..love.

Had it really been that strange for her? Din thinks. I had thought Cressida wanted to do that. Maybe..I was..wrong.

Din isn't certain what to think. Was the reason Cressida was pulling away was because he nearly died?

Or was it something else entirely? Din sighs. He turns, heading for the Crest and eager to take Cressida to Naboo and maybe see if things can't revert back to how they were between them.

......

Cressida doesn't mean to, but the second she hears Din returning, she immediately tenses up.

Ugh! What the hell is wrong with me? I love Din. At least, I thought I did. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I just like the way he makes me feel....

Cressida is tidying up in the weapons compartment when she hears Din's clanking footsteps approaching.

She doesn't look up right away, although she can feel Din's heated gaze lingering on her.

"It's done," Din says. "Geer is in Karga's custody. I'll be heading back up again, in a few minutes. Unless..you'd like to step out and stretch your legs?"

"Yes. I might as well," Cressida says, still not looking at Din. He tilts his head to the left, struggling to read Cressida's mood.

He quickly walks over, gently grabbing a hold of Cressida's shoulders and forcing her forward.

Cressida's first instinct is pull away from Din and bolt.

If she's going to leave him, she needs to begin slowly start putting up an emotional barrier between them.

Or else..she'll completely lose her nerve to go.

"Cressida, please tell me what's wrong," Din pleads softly. "I want to help."

Cressida chuckles nervously and gently extracts herself from Din's grasp.

"There's nothing going on, Din. You're imagining things."

Cressida heads for the back hatch and quickly walks down the metal ramp and off to the right, immediately disappearing in a crowd of people.

Din follows, reaching up to grab ahold of the back top of the hatch. He sighs.

He knows something isn't right. His only hope is that maybe, after he takes Cressida to Naboo, then maybe he get her to open up.

And things can go back to how they were between them.

......

It takes several hours to reach Naboo. Both Din and Cressida are more than ready to exit the ship, out into the fresh air.

Din plans on getting some food, real food, and taking Cressida on a picnic near the mountains.

He's been here several times and each time, he's taken aback by the beauty of it all.

Din heads into the city, Cressida trailing along a few paces behind, gawking at everything.

Din chuckles softly as he takes note of Cressida's awe.

"It's quite the place, huh?" Din remarks. Cressida only nods.

She's never seen such a beautiful place before. Of course, she'd been stuck on Hoth most of  her life, too, so how could she know such beauty existed elsewhere in this vast galaxy?

Din stops by a market and buys some food, far more than they'll eat, but Din wants Cressida to have plenty of variety.

He also picks out some flowers, passing them off to Cressida, who readily accepts them.

She buries her face in the sweet smelling blooms and Din watches Cressida's face soften.

He begins feeling hopeful that perhaps this little vacation will loosen up Cressida and things won't be so damn awkward.

.....

"Well?" Din asks, as they're reclining on the ground after eating their delicious meal.

"What do you think?" Cressida reaches out to gently grasp Din's hand. She immediately pulls the glove off, just touching his naked palm.

She can feel the sadness slowly building up inside her. She doesn't want to leave Din.

How can she leave Din?

She must.

Cressida's mind conjures up that awful moment when Din was roughly pushed into the Sarlacc pit.

Oh! The deep despair she'd felt, thinking that he was going to be lost to her forever!

Cressida doesn't even realize that she's crying until Din gently takes a hold of her chin, tilting her head up.

"You're angry with yourself, aren't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Wouldn't you have been?" Cressida bursts out, roughly pushing Din's hand away. "If things had been reversed? And I was the one they were planning on throwing into the Sarlacc pit?"

"Yeah," Din breathes softly. "I would be."

"So don't you dare try to make me feel better!"

"This is why you've been so distant, isn't it? You blame yourself for what happened to me?"

"Of course I do! If it wasn't for Boba and Fennec, you'd be Sarlacc bait right now!"

"Shit happens," Din says quietly but with a sharpness to his voice. "I..I left the kid alone, once. They..they ended up taking him. I was so angry with myself. Sometimes, I still beat myself up over it. But I realize, that's unhealthy."

Cressida leans away from Din and begins cleaning up their mess from the picnic.

She's quite finished talking about this.

Besides, come morning, she'll hopefully be far away from Din Djarin and far away from this guilt that continues to plague her.

"Can we stay in Naboo tonight?" Cressida asks abruptly. Din is surprised. He figures Cressida would want to get away from here.

"Sure. I figured you'd want to leave, though."

Cressida forces a smile. She's glad that Din doesn't know what she's thinking.

"It'll be fun. Maybe we can find some decent entertainment."

Din nods and moves to help Cressida finish clearing away their mess from dinner.

"Yeah. Let's bring this stuff to the ship and we'll see what we can come up with."

......

Din ends up discovering a theater of sorts that showing some of the old Jedi tales.

Cressida seems to be slowly thawing towards him and acting more like her usual self.

Din feels happy that Cressida is willing to put her past mistakes behind her.

She's in a jovial mood as they walk back to the Crest, hand in hand.

"Would..would you like to sleep in with me tonight?" Din asks.

"I'd rather not. I hope you're not offended?"

"Not at all. I just thought I'd offer."

"I appreciate that. Well, goodnight, Din Djarin. Thanks for a fantastic day and evening."

Din gives Cressida's a gentle squeeze rests his helmet against her forehead, drawing a smile from her.

"Goodnight, cyra'ika."

.....

Cressida pretends she's preparing for bed.

However, as soon as she hears Din's soft snores, she quietly exits the ship.
Her heart feels as though it's breaking as she quickly closes the back hatch.

"Goodbye, Din Djarin. I did love you."

Cressida turns and immediately feels a sharp pain in her back.

Then...the darkness overtakes her.