Taking a lightsaber apart to clean it is therapeutic. Ever since I was allowed to use a saber, my dad taught me to clean it properly. He always said a clean saber is a life-saving saber.

I'm lucky to have inherited my father's lightsaber. I hear they're rare nowadays. There are barely any Jedi left to use them, though. 

My saber is gorgeous. The hilt, a matte black color with gold details, fits in my palm perfectly. It's not too thick or thin, and it rests in my grip like it was made for me. It's a pretty simple design, too. The handle is lightly ribbed, making it a little easier to grip in battle. The top and bottom of the hilt are thinly lined in a shiny gold metal. It's force-activated, so there's no button or switch on my saber. 

My father had the privilege to travel to Ilum when he was young to get his very own kyber crystal. The crystal that attracted him just happened to be one of the most rare colors possible. The golden-yellow hue that this crystal creates is one of the prettiest I've ever seen, and I feel so fortunate to be in possession of it. It's somewhere between gold and a rich shade of yellow. It's almost like the color of the sun on a warm season's evening, just before the sun begins its descent back into the darkness. It's one of a kind.

There are only a few components to a lightsaber, and they're really easy to clean. There's the hilt, the emitter, and the focusing ring. Once you take the pieces apart and wipe them down, the saber is good as new. You just have to make sure you put the pieces back together correctly. 

The whole cleaning process is relaxing to me. It puts me in somewhat of a trance, letting all the thoughts in my head quiet for a few peaceful moments. Until one particular metallic idiot disturbs my peace.

"Could you teach me to use the saber like you do?" Mando strolls casually to the ship where I'm sat inside.

I glare at him. I understand his reasoning behind giving me a heart attack earlier, but I'm still not happy about it. 

"It's impressive what you do with it. I'd like to learn," he says. He's trying to butter me up. I roll my eyes.

"You have a lot of learning to do," I say, trying to poke fun at him. He was pretty awful with it, I will admit. I reattach each of the pieces of my saber and ignite it. I stand up and hop out the ship, landing directly in front of Mando.

"Rule number one: don't do whatever the fuck that was earlier. Do not attack me without telling me its a spar." I wave my saber around in his face and await his response.

"Got it," he says with a nod. 

"Rule number two: you teach me how to shoot in return," I declare. I've never shot a blaster, nor have I ever owned one, but I want to learn. 

"If that's what you want," he says.

"And seriously, don't ever do that again. You're scary." I look at him directly in the visor again, trying to make myself as clear as possible. Mando drops slightly after I say 'scary' and looks down at the ground. He sinks inside his armor a little bit, probably feeling bad. 

"Eat first, then we'll start," I say as I start walking toward the fire pit.

*

"So why is that saber so weird looking?" I ask with a full mouth. I cooked up a pot of soupy grains over the fire for lunch. It's pretty flavorless, but we have almost no food, so this will have to do.

"It's the dark saber," he replies. His helmet is off as we eat back-to-back.

"I have no idea what that means, Mando."

"It's an ancient Mandalorian weapon. Whoever wields it rules all of Mandalore."

"That... seems like a big responsibility. You rule a whole planet?"

"In theory... but it's destroyed."

"Were you from Mandalore?"

"No, Concordia."

"Then how did you get the saber?"

"I beat Moff Gideon and took it."

This man simply does not elaborate on anything. I have to pry every sentence out of him, but each answer he gives just leads to five more questions! Who's Moff Gideon?

"You're complicated," I say, tired of asking questions. He chuckles at my comment. It's the first time I've heard his laugh without the helmet on.

"I'm complicated?" he says, amused.

"Every question I ask has a crazy answer which then leads to more questions. I can never gauge what you're going to say."

"So stop asking me questions." I can hear his smile. 

"sO sToP aSkInG mE qUeStIoNs," I mock him. "Are you finished yet?"

He fixes his helmet back atop his head then replies, "I guess I am."

"Great. Saber or shooting lessons first?" I ask him.

"Shooting while we still have the daylight. I don't need you shooting something in the darkness," Mando announces. He stands up behind me and adjusts his armor and clothes. He tosses his bowl in the sand near the fire and kicks sand over the flame to put it out. Then, he turns and begins walking toward the river.

I should follow him

I get up from my seat and toss my bowl next to his. The sun is still high in the sky, but it's going to start its descent soon. It's best to start before it gets dark out.

"I don't have a blaster," I call to Mando. He walks briskly, increasing his distance from me quickly.

"You're going to use mine," he calls back without turning toward me. He marches to the river, then steps over it and continues in the same direction. I start my feet in his direction. 

Mando continues walking straight into the trees. As I catch up, the trees shroud the sunlight from my skin. It's less miserably hot under these trees; it's much more bearable. Mando takes a few more steps and eventually stops in a flat grassy field where the sky is veiled by a thick layer of branches and leaves. It's like the trees leaned over this field as they grew, making a live, green dome. 

"So what do you know about blasters?" Mando turns and faces me. He has his hands on his hips and his head tilted to the side, awaiting my response. He looks sassy.

I shake my head, "Almost nothing... I know they shoot." I crack an innocent smile at him.

"Nothing?" he asks, shocked. 

"Never even held one."

Without hesitating, Mando lets out a breathy grunt, yanks his blaster out of its holster on his thigh, and tosses it at me. I wasn't expecting it, so it hits my hands and clatters to the ground at my feet.

Mando just stares at me. I stare back at him, eyes wide with embarrassment.

"Well pick it up!" he shouts at me. I scramble to pick it up as quick as I could while letting out the smallest sorry know to man.

His blaster is larger than I expected. It's a dark grey metal color- not very reflective. The handle is a dark brown wood, but it looks very dirty and worn. The blaster itself it quite long, unlike what I'd envisioned it being. It's also heavier than I thought- it feels solid and sturdy.

I turn the blaster around in my hands as I examine it. Then, I wrap my palm around the handle, but it's too big. My fingers reach around it, but it's uncomfortably large in my palm. I couldn't use this for a long period of time without dropping it. 

"It's a custom made IB-94 blaster. Keep it pointed at the ground," Mando informs me as he takes a few steps toward me. He holds his hands out, waiting for me to deliver his blaster back into his hands. 

He grips the blaster in his right hand, showing me the correct hand positioning. "Are you right dominant?" he asks me. I nod. "Great. Handle in the palm. All fingers wrapped around the handle with the pointer straight out over the trigger hole. Do NOT put your pointer on the trigger yet. Other hand holds here underneath while you're still learning." 

I nod as he hands the blaster back to me. I follow his instructions and try to place my fingers in the correct spots. It's difficult with how thick the handle is. 

"My hands are too small," I say to him as I look up into his visor. He takes my hand and repositions each finger on the handle one-by-one, forcing the blaster further into my grip.

"You're gonna have to just deal with it," he says, "It's made for my hands, not yours."

I never noticed how big his hands are.

"Okay, here's the safety. This stays on until you're ready to shoot," he points to a little lever at the back of the gun, facing me. "This prevents the blaster from firing when you don't want it to. You use your thumb to pull down on it to turn the safety off. You'll hear a click." 

He takes the blaster from my hands and shows me his grip once again. Then, he clicks off the safety with his thumb and shoots a tree several yards away exactly in the center. Then, he reengages the safety before handing it back to me. 

"Your turn." He takes several steps backwards away from me and puts his hands on his hips again.

I turn the blaster in my hands, trying to remember exactly where he placed my fingers. I try to replicate it, but it doesn't feel exactly the same. Good enough, I guess.

I hold up my arm and point toward the same tree Mando shot. My thumb reaches up to touch the safety, and it clicks off slowly. I look to Mando for reassurance. He nods his head.

I put my pointer finger on the trigger and aim at the tree. Then, I pull.

My wrist goes floppy as the shot leaves the blaster. The kick back is more than I thought. Mando did it so effortlessly and his wrist stayed rigid. The shot veers off to the left and misses the tree by quite a margin. Pitiful.

Mando clear his throat comedically, "That- uh... we have some work to do."

"Did I do it wrong?" I ask. 

"Your grip was fine... It was everything else that was- uh," he trails off. He walks back over to me and I hold the blaster toward him, ready for him to take it from me again.

"whOA SAFETY ON," he yells. He slaps my hand toward the ground, pointing the blaster at my feet. I click the safety back on.

How embarrassing.

"I said safety on when you're not shooting," he sounds annoyed. Rightfully so. "Come here, you're standing weird and your posture is wrong. Stand like you're about to shoot."

I put my arm back up, aimed at the tree. Mando shakes his head as he takes a look at how my body is positioned. 

"Do you always stand like that?" he asks with a sassy tone. 

"Like what? I'm just standing," I retort. 

"Your posture is awful, Koda." 

I stand up a little straighter and push my shoulders back. "Is this better?" I ask.

Mando comes over behind me and puts his armored chest flat against my back. His right arm comes up underneath my right arm to raise to eye level. Then, his left arm wraps around the back of me to replicate the same on the left side. He grabs both of my hands in his. He's basically hugging me from behind.

My heart is racing.

"You want to keep your arms at eye level, or at least above the shoulder. You can't really aim any other way," he says. I can barely understand a single word he's saying.

"Y-yeah got it," I reply.

He takes his foot and kicks my legs open. He pushes my left foot slightly forward, "You want to keep your feet staggered and spread apart. It gives better stability. Shoulder-width apart with your NON-dominant side slightly forward." 

Then, he pushes his chest into my upper back, "Keep your back straight up. You'll aim better." I can feel his hard armor down the entirety of my back. Every inch of the front of him is touching every inch of the back of me. 

The bottom of his helmet touches the back of my head. He can clearly see over my head because of our somewhat drastic height difference.

"Okay, shoot."

"Like this?" I ask. He hasn't moved a muscle from his hugging position.

"Shoot." 

I take the safety off the blaster and try to aim at best as I can. 

"Use this on top for aiming," he touches a little notch at the tip of the blaster, then replaces his hand back on mine. I move my aim slightly, correcting it toward the tree. Then, I put my finger in the trigger hole and pull. 

The shot hits the targeted tree, but not in the center like Mando did. He lets go of my body and steps back.

"Better. Just try to keep your wrists tight when you pull the trigger," he sounds like he's smiling. 

My heart is still pounding. My skin feels like electricity when he touches me. Even through the gloves. My cheeks blush furiously and I feel like I'm drunk.

"You okay?" he asks. I realize I haven't said anything.

"Yeah, wow, I hit it!" I try to sound proud. I am proud, but- maker, what the fuck just happened?

"How'd that feel?" he asks. I blink dramatically. The air catches in my throat at his question.

"Wow- uh, that felt... that felt amazing."

"Great, now do that about a hundred more times." 

He's either totally oblivious or a really good actor. I can't quite tell.

I lift the blaster to try to replicate that shot. I stand straight up and make sure my feet are staggered. My hands shake slightly as I try to aim toward the tree. I can feel my rapid pulse in my palms. My heart is beating so hard I can feel it in every inch of my body. I click off the safety and pull the trigger. 

It shoots off to the left again, this time closer to the tree than the first shot, but it misses the tree entirely. Mando doesn't say anything, just looks at me with his hands on his hips.

"I think the good shot was just you shooting, not me." I break the silence.

"If it was me shooting, I'd've hit the middle."

"Well if it was me shooting, it would hit the ground. I only hit the tree before because you were aiming."

Mando lets out a little laugh and looks down at his feet. "So, what? I have to aim the gun for you every time?"

"If you want me to actually hit the tree, yeah."

He walks over again and grabs my arms from behind me like he did before. He presses his chest into my back again. His grip on my hands on the blaster is tight, essentially steering me in the right direction.

"Hold it tight," he instructs. I can feel his voice reverberating in his chest before exiting his mouth. He speaks at almost a whisper this close to me; its low and gravely and sexy. The voice modulator adds a breathy component to his voice like usual, but it's exaggerated when he speaks this softly.

"Stand up correctly, Koda." His use of my name in that whispery voice sends chills down my spine. He pushes his hips into my ass to correct my hunch. As he does that, he pulls my upper body back into his chest. 

My heart is doing backflips inside my chest. I hope he can't feel my pulse.

"Now, aim at the center of that tree. Keep your wrist tight." I move my aim once again toward the tree. I close one eye and aim down the reticle directly at the mark Mando's shot made. I stick my finger in the trigger hole, click off the safety, and pull the trigger. 

The shot hits exactly where Mando's landed. 

"Holy shit," I exclaim.  I turn around with my eyes wide and mouth agape to see Mando's reaction. He gives me one single head nod.

"Now do it without me," he commands with his arms crossed over his chest.

I follow all the things he told me to do and raise the blaster. I click off the safety and pull the trigger once more. The shot hits the tree. Not in the middle, but it hits the tree.

I turn around to face him with my mouth wide open again. 

"Sun's going down. Let's pick this back up tomorrow," he announces. He holds his hand out for his blaster. I plop it down in his hand and he holsters it back on his thigh. 

He begins walking away toward the camp, but turns around after a few steps, "Hey, good job."

I smile a toothy smile at him before he turns and continues walking. The sky has turned a pretty purple shade, indicating sundown is only a little while away now. I jog to catch up to Mando and walk with him the rest of the way back to camp.