BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!

A serious of blaster fire from an ion canon are heard from outside the building, each one louder than the second. Followed by the familiar swooshing sounds of a starship flying overhead.

"He's here," Jaden says. "I'm in trouble."

"Who?" Din asked firmly.

Nia feels it too. A sense of urgency and worry from a friendly presence, someone who is very strong in the Force. Then as they all hear the well known humming of a starship landing nearby, Boba levels his rifle up to aim at the front door and Din does the same with his amben-pulse rifle.

"Lower your weapons! It's him!" Nia blurts out excitedly.

"Who?!" Din frantically asked.

"The Jedi," Nia says calmly.

"You mean Skywalker?" Din says, his hands move to lower his weapon.

"Yes," Jaden answered. Yet Boba scoffed but doesn't move, his weapon still aimed at the door.

"Boba, lower your rifle," Nia says politely as she placed her hand on his weapon, trying to calm him down. "He's not here to fight you."

"Can't be too sure about that," Boba sneered, gripping his weapon harder.

"I do know for sure. He's only here for the children," she replied. "Lower your rifle. There's no need for hostility."

"You're lucky I like you," Boba growled out a frustrated breath as he slowly lowers his rifle.

Nia simply smiled back at him. It was a very bold statement to say in front of Din, who simply ignored the whole exchange. When the doors open, a slender man, in a black hooded poncho, enters the storage room armed with a green lightsaber. He disengaged his blade and uncovers his face, revealing himself as the infamous Jedi Master.

"Nice to see you all again," Luke says very calmly and respectfully. He walks further inside as Boba is seen tensing up.

"Boba, you survived it seems," Luke says, but he wasn't trying to tease the already infuriated crime lord.

"I have your buddy Solo to thank," Boba sneered.

"Boba," Nia interjected.

"When I found out the children ran off, I tried to get here as fast as I could," Luke says as he slowly walked over to Jaden holding Grogu. "No, I'm not angry, but you didn't have to run. You were never a prisoner," Luke addressed Grogu before turning his attention to Din. "It seems the child has chosen to return back to you, Mandalorian."

"It does seem that way," Din answered flatly.

"You will always be welcomed in my academy, Grogu. If you ever change your mind, you know how to contact me," Luke tells the child then speaks to Nia. "You, too, are welcome in the New Order."

"I.." Nia begins to say but looks over at Din.

"Oh. I see," Luke says. "Well, the invitation will always be here."

"Thank you, master," Nia says.

"Please, you can call me Luke," he says as he turns his gaze to Jaden.

"Sorry master, I just wanted to help him," Jaden says as he looks at the ground in shame.

"This was reckless, but I'm glad you and the child are now safe. Now, come with me," Luke says as he hold out his hand.

"Luke! Don't leave just yet. There is something I must show you," Nia blurts out. "But..." she begins to say as she turns her head to look at Boba. "It's at his palace."

"There is no way I'm allowing this...Jedi...into my palace!" Boba snarled.

"Fett," Din replied firmly. Boba sighed heavily and answered with a simple 'fine,' before swiftly exiting the room to meet up with Fennec, Bossk, and Cobb.

"Here, Mando. He wants you to hold him," Jaden says as he hands the baby to Din. His arms curling to hold up Grogu's tiny frame. It felt so familiar to him. The child's ears tickled his neck as he snuggled the child against the gap between his chest plate and shoulder pauldron.

"He missed you," Luke says. "I'm glad the child is finally happy."

When the exit the building, the area was clear and the Red Key destroyed. There were some Tuskens who had died, but if it wasn't for Luke coming in on his X-wing, they wouldn't have been able to take out the entire facility like this.

***

Back at Boba's Palace, the team reassembled in the throne room where Luke meets Nora for the first time.

"Child, you always have a choice. If you come with me, I can teach you the ways of the Force. If you want to stay with your mother, then that is your choice. But you will always be welcome to join me anytime," Luke tells Nora.

"Will I ever see my mother again?" Nora asked.

"Yes, I believe that is possible. But your abilities are nothing without training," Luke says, the child responds by holding his hand and nodding.

"How can I find you?" The mother asked in a quivering voice, saddened by the thought of leaving her child.

"You don't, I'll find you," Luke replied.

"I was going to take her to Felucia, the town of Dale is very peaceful," Nia says. "But I have something that I believe you should have," she continues as she hands him a holocron. "This contains all the names and locations of all Force-sensitive children in the galaxy. An old Jedi Knight died to make sure it was safe. I believe you are the one who was meant to have it."

"Thank you Nia," Luke says. "I will protect this with my life. The children are the future of rebuilding the Jedi Order," he continues as they hear Boba scoff. "Jaden, are you ready?" He asked as the young boy nods.

"Can I say goodbye to him?" Jaden asked.

"Of course," Luke replied. Jaden walks over to Din holding Grogu. "Bye Grogu. I'll miss you," he says as he holds his tiny baby hands. "I'm glad you are happy now. Take care of yourself," he says as he turns to leave the room with Luke and Nora.

"I can always use a trained Force healer in my order, if you ever change your mind Nia," Luke says one last time before heading out.

"Thank you Luke, but my destiny is with him," Nia says as she gestures to Din.

"Very well. May the Force be with you," Luke says.

"May the Force be with you," Nia answered as Luke disappeared from sight, exiting up the stairs and heading for the front gate.

"Well, let's go to Nevarro and get the money for this Imp," Nia says as Din goes to say goodbye to Boba.

"I need to ask you for one more favor," Boba says.

"Now what?!" Din blurts out, thinking it's another mission.

"Leave us," Boba says flatly to the rest of the crew. Once they leave, he continues, "Can I speak with Nia in private?"

Din stands there, his hands clenched into fists as he stares at him, "Why the hell would I let you do that?"

"It's okay Din. You can trust me," Nia interjected.

Din doesn't say a word as he spins his helmet around to face her, "Oh I can?" He says sarcastically.

"Please?" She pleaded.

He sighed heavily, "Fine, but I'll be right by the door," he snarled as he takes the baby and walks out.

***

"Ok, Boba. What is it?" She says firmly. He takes off his helmet and placed it on the armrest of his royal chair, then walks over to her.

"I just need to know once and for all..." he murmured. He gets about an arm's reach and says, "Do you care about me?"

It was another bold question, one in which Nia suspected he would ask. She thinks about her words carefully before speaking. To answer his question, she throws her arms around his shoulders and presses her cheek to his, "I do, Boba. But please don't ask me to choose."

"I won't. I just needed to know the truth," he says softly as he takes a long deep breath.

"You will find someone, and she would be better than me. Because she would be meant for you. I will always be your friend," she says as she kissed him on his cheek.

"And you will always be welcome here. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me," he responded stoically as he tried to keep his emotions neutral.

She breaks away from him and says, "How about you hang on to the dark saber for him? It's safer here with you under lock and key."

"If that is what he wants, I will do it for him, and for you."

"Goodbye Boba."

"Goodbye, princess."

***

She's not going to lie, but it was hard to walk away from Boba. She meets up with Din who is pacing back and forth in the hallway while holding the baby.

"Hey," he says as he sees Nia walking towards him. "Everything okay?"

"Yes. Let's go turn in this Imp and go home," she says as she placed her hand on his chest plate.

"Home?"

"Felucia. Do you not want to go back?"

"I do but..." he started to say but stopped.

"You want to go back to bounty hunting?"

"Yes."

"Then you can. I won't stop you. But I just need to ask you for a favor?"

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"As long as you promise to come visit between missions. You can even leave the child with me while you're working. Does that sound good to you?"

"It does, but I still have an angry princess after me."

"Boba has the saber, he will keep it safe for now."

"But what if she comes for me? What if she threatens you?"

Nia laughed, "I'm not afraid of a Mandalorian. We'll deal with her when the time comes. Now, are we ready for Nevarro?"

"Let's go," Din says.

"Kirana, are you ready?"

"Does it get easier?" The mother asked Din.

"In time," Din replied, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Then I'm ready," the mother says.

***

The Crest II landed an open area on the volcanic world of Nevarro.

"It's best if you stay on the ship with the Kirana and the child, especially since you have a bounty on your head. I won't be long," Din says as he lowered the ramp and walked out with Gideon in carbonate. It was probably a good idea not to be around other hunters for someone like her, so she agreed.

"Welcome my friend!" It was Greef Karga, the head of the Bounty Hunter's Guild. "Looks like you were able to grab that Imp with no problem."

"I need my next job, Karga," Din says firmly.

"Of course, but let's go to my office to talk business," Karga says as Din had no choice but to follow him into the city. That man loved to talk and Din wasn't in the mood for his long, one-sided conversations.

"The pucks, Karga," Din demanded.

"Ok Mando. Always straight to business aren't you?" Karga says as he dropped a few bounty pucks on the table, as well as his payment. After Din grabbed the pucks and the credits, he stood up and left the office as quickly as he arrived.

***

It didn't last long until Din was out of sight. It had been a tiring journey, and Nia is anxious to get back home and have a nice shower. But it seems she won't be given this ability to relax just yet, as three Mandalorians in blue armor approach the open ramp of the ship.

"Where is he?" A female Mandalorian ordered.

"Who?" Nia asked, but she knew this was probably the 'princess' that Din mentioned.

"You know who! This is his ship, and I see that is his foundling as well. Don't play games with me girl!" She snapped back.

"Girl?! I would leave, before something happens to you," Nia warned as she stands up and walks down the ramp, as the child and Kirana look at them in fear.

"If you don't tell me, I will have no choice but to take what is rightfully mine!"

"And who are you?"

"I am Bo-Katan Kryze, and these are my Night Owls," she says as she nods to her two associates.

As the two other Mandalorians slowly creep forward, Bo-Katan says, "If you will not comply, then you leave me with no choice."

Suddenly, the male Mandalorian ignites his grappling wire to kidnap the child. The wire shoots out of his wrists, grabs the baby and swings back into the man's arms.

"No!" Nia cries out.

"If you want to see the child return safely, tell Djarin to meet me on Concord Dawn," Bo-Katan says as all three of them engage their jet packs and fly into the sky.

They were too fast and she was outnumbered. Nia tried to use the Force to bring them back, but when Bo-Katan shoots her in the arm, Nia looses concentration and they were able to escape. Soon, Kirana and Din were at her side.

"Nia?! Are you okay?!" Din asked in a panicked voice.

"Yes. It only grazed me, but unfortunately that bitch took the child. She says to meet her on Concord Dawn."

"Well, it looks like I'll need to take care of her. I've been running from this day for years."

"But you don't have the dark saber."

"That doesn't matter. She has my kid. You and Kirana need to stay here."

"Din. You should know we are in this together."

"I know, but this is my fight," he says but doesn't wait for a response. He stands up and heads up the ramp of the ship.

"Don't you dare leave me Djarin!" Nia yelled.

"Never," he says as he quickly raises the ramp before Nia could do anything more.

As the Crest II flies off into the air, Karga makes his appearance, "Hey. I heard blaster fire. Is everyone alright?"

"Yes, but I will need passage to Tatooine. Kirana here is headed to Felucia."

"I can arrange that. Where's Mando?"

"Taking care of some unfinished business."

___________

NOTES: Sorry this one is a bit weak, but I've been very distracted lately with the newest Boba Fett show. However, I have one more chapter left to write for this fanfic. This is how I wanted this story to be finished. I owe my readers an ending.