I'm jolted awake by the ship jumping out of hyperspace. The jump kicks me out of my seat a little. If it weren't for my seat belt, I would've hit the back of Mando's seat with my face. 

The stars around us are no longer streaks, but twinkling sparkles once again. Most are a yellowish white color, but some shine a dazzling shade of blue. Even fewer are a pretty soft pink color. I never expected stars to look this beautiful. 

I'm cold. Space is cold. I rub my arms, desperate for the friction to warm my chilled skin. Dantooine is quite a hot planet, even in the cold season the temperature never drops very low. I've never owned a coat, and never really needed to. 

So many new experiences.

I rummage through the brown sack I brought with me to pull out my cloak. I've had it for many years, but it's still quite soft. Almost the texture of a blanket. I drape it over myself and snuggle underneath it.

"Cold?" Mando asks. He's looking through the mirror at me. I can't see his eyes, but I can feel his gaze on me. He sounds concerned.

"A little. I'm not used to cold temperatures," I reply. I pull the cloak up higher to my neck.

"We'll be there soon," he informs me. He looks away from the mirror to look at the dashboard in front of him. He presses a few buttons and reads a screen to his left. He grips the steering wheel, and turns the ship slightly left and down. We ride toward a blue and green planet. The edges of it are a rich shade of blue, similar to the color of the sky. The center is a bright green, the same color as the forest back home.

"What planet is this?" I ask. I want to know what the mission is. Mission? Goal? Plan? I'm not sure what we're doing. What time is it? Does time work the same in space?

"This is Vinsoth," Mando announces, "a popular planet for slave trade and smuggling."

I crinkle my nose at the unsavory thought. Slave trade? How many slaves does a people have to sell to become known as a 'popular planet for slave trade'? I shiver at the thought.

"Oh, sounds great," I say sarcastically, "You gonna sell me?"

"Wasn't planning on it," he counters. The closer we get, the more detail I can make out. The atmosphere swirls and changes constantly. The clouds above the green area move rapidly, whereas the clouds over the blue area move quite slowly. Mando steers up pretty far up north, toward the blue. 

"We're here to see if we can find any information about any Jedi. Or anything about a Jedi school." He moves his thumb incessantly over a lever on the dashboard with a bulbous ball handle. 

"So, that's the plan? We find information and dip?"

"No." I wait for a him to elaborate, but of course he does not. 

"Mando, I'm going to need you to share a little bit more information if you want me to help."

He sighs annoyingly and shrugs his shoulders.

"I got word that there is a group in the slave trade business that 'trades' Jedi. Apparently they smuggle Jedi to and from planets secretly to keep them safe from the hunters." He pauses and looks to me in the mirror again. "We're going there to see if they've seen a small green padawan come through their system."

"A green padawan?" I repeat his words.

"Yes, Grogu." 

I scrunch my face, confused, and look at him.

"Grogu is my foundling."

"Your kid is green?"

"I told you, he's not my kid."

He looks away from the mirror and toward the planet quickly approaching us. He presses more buttons and continues to look at the tracking screen to his left. His thumb continues fidgeting over the ball on the one lever.

*

Mando lands the ships smoothly in a mountain range several miles from the settlement we are headed to. It's dark outside. Must be nighttime on this planet. It's also pretty cold here. Mando shuts off the engines and removes his seat belt. Then, he turns around to face me. 

He pulls the cloak off of me and grabs the seat belt. He pulls it rather forcefully to find the buckle, while inadvertently poking and pushing on my abdomen with his fingers and knuckles. He releases the buckle and quickly turns away, staring straight ahead for a few seconds, seemingly catching his breath. What the hell?

I gather lightsaber and belt from my bag and fasten it around my hips, making sure it won't slide down as I walk. I grab my cloak from the ground and toss it over my shoulders, tying the strings together at the neck into a neat bow. I pull the hood atop my head to hide my bright auburn hair.

Mando presses a button on his wrist to open the hatch above us. The hydraulics hiss loudly and the clear glass slowly rises, letting in the cool temperatures of the air around us. My body lets out a shiver as soon as the cool air touches my skin.

"You should stay here," Mando offers. "You're going to freeze out there dressed like that." I look down at myself and realize what I'm wearing. I still have on shorts, a cropped t-shirt and this cloak. I'm not particularly dressed for cold weather. 

"I can't come?" I plead.

"Not when you have hypothermia." He sounds firm. It would be much easier to have conversations with him if I wasn't talking to a faceless helmet all the time.

"Then why did I come with you if I can't even help?"

"I don't even know if there are any Jedi here. We're just going off something I heard," he argues.

I make an angry facial expression, disappointed in his response. 

"I don't want anything happening to you," he almost mumbles. He said it so delicately I almost didn't hear it. It's like he didn't want me to hear it. My expression softens.

He clears his throat sharply and says, louder this time, "I can't be carrying around dead weight all that distance if you can't walk or something." He shifts around awkwardly. He redirects his attentions to his armor and does a check on all of the supplies and ammunition. Then, he lifts himself up from his seat. He places his hands on the edge of the hatch opening and pulls himself out of the ship. He plants his feet on either side of the hatch and turns around to face me.

"Just- just stay here. I won't be long." He turns and leaps off the ship, landing on the cold ground with a heavy thud. Then, the hatch hisses and shuts atop of me, locking me inside. 

Great, now I'm cold and alone. 

*

He hasn't been gone for very long, but I am already very bored. There's not much to occupy yourself with in a 2 passenger starfighter. And I didn't bring anything with me as entertainment. So, naturally, I decided I'm going to snoop around a bit. 

With the hatch shut, there is only enough room to crouch inside the vessel. I certainly can't stand up straight in here, even though I'm pretty short at only 5'4". I get up from my seat and crouch-walk to the front of the vessel. Unceremoniously, I plant myself down in the pilot's seat. 

The dashboard is intricate. There are more buttons and levers on this things than I could probably count. There are a few screen here and there, but there is one main screen to the left side. I remember seeing it glow with coordinates when Mando was flying earlier. It must be the navigation screen.

The surface of the dashboard is a matte black color. Most of the buttons and switches and levers are a shiny silver, similar to the outside of the ship. A few of the buttons, though, glow different colors. They must be the most important ones. A lot of them are a rich green color. A few are blue and purple, and then there is one large red button shielded with a clear plastic cover. I've never flown any kind of ship, but I can assume you're not supposed to press that one.

How does he even know what each of these buttons do? There's so many of them.

Over to the right side, there is another silver lever. This is the one with ball attachment on top of it, different from all the other levers with a straight handle. Mando seemed to always keep his hand on this lever while he was flying. Must be special.

I look directly left and right of the seat and spot a few more pulleys. One to the right side looks like it controls the seat. I pull it. The back of the seat shoots down under the weight of me sitting in it, startling me. Now I'm laying down.

Staring straight up into the dark sky through the see-through hatch, I can see the stars. They never cease to amaze me. I wonder if we can fly to those.

As I'm laying down in this reclined seat, my feet move a little to get comfy, but I kick something. It feels small and plush. I sit up and reach down near my feet to pull out something wrapped in burlap. It's small, tied with only one knot.

I unravel the knot to reveal a heap of metal inside. It's the same shiny metal that Mando's covered in, only it's smaller than my own hand. I set it down in my lap and lift the metal out from the burlap. It's a shirt? It's armor? This small?

I drop the shirt back into the burlap and wrap it up the same way it was before. I nestle it back near the foot area, just as I found it. I grab the chair lever and lift myself back into an upright position again. Is this how he sleeps? In the pilot's seat, just reclined to the floor?

I get up from the chair and crouch-walk back to my seat. I investigate around it to find similar controls. On the right side there is yet another lever, which I'm assuming does the same thing. On the front, there is a long button. I take a seat and push the button. The seat moves forward quickly toward Mando's seat. This thing is fully adjustable. I'm rather excited about it.

I put the seat back, but adjust it to the most comfortable position for myself. There's not much to look at in here other than the stars above. I thrown my cloak back over myself and snuggle in once again. I stare up at the night sky and begin to doze off. My eyelids get heavier and heavier and eventually...

*

THUD

My eyes burst open and my limbs jump a little at the sound. I look up to see Mando standing above the hatch looking down at me. He looks incredibly tall from this angle. He lifts his wrist and presses the button to open the glass.

"Are you sleeping?" he asks.

"No- no, I'm just resting my eyes a bit," I lie to him. He scoffs and tosses a bag down to me. 

"Put this on," he demands, then turns and hops off the ship back down to the ground. The hatch closes. I open the bag and pull out a bunch of brand new clothes.

A thick sweater with a hood, some long-sleeve shirts, some long pants, and woolen socks.

He bought me clothes? I am flabbergasted. The more he interacts with me, the more confused I become. He is so isolated and cold sounding most of the time, but then he does sweet things like this. It's giving me whiplash. But, I smile.

I look up to see if I have any privacy. I don't see him, so I strip off the warm-weather clothes I currently have on. First, I put on the long-sleeve shirt over my undergarments. It's black and very soft. It's a little tight for my liking, but it fits pretty well. Then, I put the socks on. These woolen socks are the warmest thing I have ever worn. They're a pretty dark green color and they match well with the dark green sweater I was also gifted. Next, I slide the pants on. I don't often wear long pants, so these feel a little weird on my legs. But, they fit extraordinarily well. They are pretty fitted on me, following the contours of my body. They're a nice dark brown color, and they feel like the texture of burlap, but it isn't burlap. I'm not sure what fabric these are made from. Last, I throw on the sweater over everything. It's fuzzy on the inside, and it has one large pocket on the front. 

I fasten my saber belt on and tie my boots over the socks. I'm honestly a little sweaty in this. I'm pretty surprised that these fit so well. The pants especially feels like they were tailored specifically for my body. And they're all the colors I like to wear normally. He somehow knew exactly what to get. Observative.

I get up from my seat and tap the glass. It opens with a hiss and I'm finally able to stand up straight. I stand tall and stretch upwards a little. I grab the edge of the hatch and climb out, exposing myself to the cold air. I look the ground where Mando is stood, looking up at me.

"Looks good. Warm?" he asks.

"Sweating." I hop down from the ship and land on the ground next to Mando. He looks me up and down and gives and approving nod. 

"Turn around," he demands. I do as he says and turn 180 degrees, now facing the ship. He clears his throat slightly and says, "You should leave the saber here."

"What? No, this has to come with me," I counter. I don't go anywhere without my lightsaber.

"Well, it's pretty obvious hanging over your-" he stutters, "hanging from your back like that." Hanging over my what? My butt? 

"What am I going to defend myself with if something happens?" I argue. I sure won't be much help if I get shot or something.

"Me."

"What?"

"We're just looking for intel. We shouldn't run into any trouble. And if we do, I'll handle it." He nods his head once toward the ship again, implying I should store my weapon back inside. I follow his order and climb back up the ship. I take off my saber belt and tuck it in my cloak, hidden from outside view. I hop back down and shoot him an angry look.

He reaches into a pocket on the side of his thigh and pulls out a small dagger holstered in a leather carrier. He holds it out toward me.

"Take this. It's less obvious than a lightsaber," he offers. I take it from him and clip it to my waistband. He nods approvingly, turns, and starts walking away.

"You better lock the ship," I warn and start following him.