Mando slid his bare fingers into the sand, picking up two handfuls and turning his hands. Sand became caught under his nails, but he didn’t bother to wash it out. Instead, he stared at the ocean, knees bent, and watched the calm waves slap against the shoreline. He had just gotten off the phone with the mechanics working on the Razor Crest and now had to wait until tomorrow to leave when someone was brainwashing the Outer Rim: innocent people who didn’t deserve it.
Mando had seen a lot of dark shit in the galaxy—pirates, monsters, criminal organizations—but this was a whole new level of unethical. And now he was being told to slow down? He wasn’t seriously injured—he could fight. He was still a bounty hunter… a bounty hunter who just snapped at his own son. Grogu probably wanted a new buir now.
Mando clutched his knees, but soon lay back on the sand. He covered his visor and said, “I’m sorry, Grogu.” He lay there for a good while before his eyes became heavy and he fell asleep on the beach, nightmares of the Dragonsnake and his poor parenting skills pushing aside the good memories. He woke to a little hand tugging his fingers and shot up into a sitting position.
Grogu fell back onto the sand, but Rotta soon appeared behind him and helped him up.
Mando noticed Luke sitting on a rock by the water, legs crossed (he looked as if he were meditating).
Grogu whimpered and crawled onto Mando’s thigh, reaching for his helmet. He came back, but why?
“He wants to play with you, not me,” Rotta tried saying. “Even though I think I’m a great big brother.”
Remaining quiet, Mando set Grogu on his lap. They stared at one another for a long while, and then Mando questioned, “Do you forgive me, Grogu? I’m sorry I snapped.”
Grogu moved closer to him and soon propped himself against his tummy.
“You’re not a bad dad,” Rotta said. “I don’t know what gave you a crazy idea like that. The little guy idolizes you.”
“But I’m the reason he’s so clingy and won’t train lately,” Mando argued.
“It’s not that.” That came from Luke. He had slid off his rock and now stood before Mando. “Search your feelings, Din, back to whatever happened to you two.” He pushed aside Mando’s broken helmet and sat in the sand, his back turned to Rotta, attention fixed on Mando. “Rotta picked up on it before me.”
Rotta. That was the first time Luke had explicitly credited him for something.
Even Rotta seemed both mortified and relieved. “I did? Wait, you’re crediting me with something, Luke?”
Mando noticed that Luke seemed a little more relaxed around Rotta now (not full trust, but another step in the right direction).
He thought back to the Dragonsnake; Grogu’s shift in behavior didn’t happen until after that mission. Grogu fought to keep him alive. Wait… was that it?
Mando lowered his voice. “Are you worried you’re going to lose me, Grogu?”
Grogu pushed off his tummy and reached up it. His eyes said it all.
How could Mando have been so stupid? So selfish? It was so obvious. Talk about shit parenting.
Luke remained calm. “You finally figured it out?” His shoulders tensed. “If you don’t mind me asking… What exactly happened?”
Avoiding the question, Mando told Grogu, “You’re not going to lose me, Grogu. I promise.”
“Talking about it might help,” Luke said.
“Not now, Luke,” were the only words that left Mando’s lips. “I have other things to worry about.” Not a Dragonsnake that kept plaguing his memories and dreams. He stood a little too quickly and stumbled, almost falling onto Luke. The humming in his helmet was back. Why was he so angry and mournful all of a sudden?
To prevent another outburst, he handed Grogu to Rotta and said, “I’m going to lie down for a while. Take care of him.”
“On one condition.” Rotta held up a finger. “You let us help you. Ah, who am I kidding?” He let Grogu sit on his right bicep. “Your little guy is safe with me. But do consider that, Mando.”
Mando huffed. “Fine. You can help.” That wasn’t like him, either. He hoped it was just his concussion messing him up. “I’m sorry, guys. I just… I need to lie down.” He picked up his broken helmet and held it before him, leaving the beach. He didn’t want to go home tonight—he wanted to leave—but had no choice and spent the rest of the day tossing and turning in the barracks instead of fixing his damn helmet.
The next morning, Mando gathered his weapons and went to the spaceport, pausing when he saw Zeb and Luke in the cockpit of the Razor Crest, Luke sitting in the pilot seat, Zeb in the co-pilot seat. A few mechanics were finishing up the Razor Crest’s repairs.
One mechanic stepped back and gestured with his hands. “All right, give her a little lift.”
At his command, Mando saw Zeb pointing something out to Luke, and he slowly lifted the ship into the sky.
“Now bring her down,” the mechanic added, and Luke did.
The mechanic backed up some more, but it wasn’t long until he bumped into Mando and flinched, turning. “Oh, sorry, Mando.”
Mando saw that the man wore a black visor over the top half of his face. His voice was somewhat familiar, but for some reason, the day before was a bit blurry for Mando. He remembered the Mastermind/brainwashing conspiracy and concussion diagnosis, but not much after that.
And why was Luke sitting in his seat?
To the mechanic, Mando said, “It’s fine,” and pushed by him, heading toward his ship.
“She should be good to fly now!” the mechanic called from behind.
Good, because Mando was going to get the heck out of there to Oamia. He entered the Razor Crest, passed Grogu, Rotta, and R2 in the common room, and soon found himself in the cockpit. “What are you doing, Luke?” he inquired.
“Oh, good morning, Din.” Luke fixed his eyes on the flight deck. “Zeb is showing me how to fly the Razor Crest.”
“Why? I told you that I didn’t want help.”
“No, you agreed to it yesterday on the beach,” Luke fought back. “Don’t you remember?”
Mando didn’t, but why? That was yesterday.
Zeb smiled. “Give him a chance, Mando. Luke’s a natural.”
“But he flies X-Wings.”
“The Razor Crest isn’t that much different,” Luke said. “It’s just a little bigger and heavier. Is it okay if I take her for a spin, Zeb? Mando?”
Zeb and Mando spoke simultaneously.
“Yes.”
“No.”
But Luke went ahead and lifted into the sky again—a little too hard, though, because the ship jerked to the left.
The next thing the group heard was R2 wailing from the common area. He rolled past the cockpit’s entrance and crashed into the wall.
“Oops. Sorry, R2,” Luke apologized, straightening out the ship and slowly flying her toward the ocean.
“You’re doing great, kid,” Zeb said, gesturing at the deck. “Why don’t you try flying a little faster now?” The Razor Crest was over the ocean now, the base behind her.
Luke searched the switches and then reached for one.
“Wait!” Mando and Zeb shouted together. “That’s the—!”
Luke pulled the switch, but instead of moving faster, a rocket escaped from one of the Razor Crest’s wings, twirled in a circle, and hit the ocean with a splash.
“—rocket,” Mando and Zeb finished.
“Oops,” Luke said again. He inhaled and relaxed his shoulders, closing his eyes. Opening them, he glanced at the correct switch that time and moved it forward, the Razor Crest picking up speed.
“There you go, kid.” Zeb patted his shoulder. “You’ll have this down in no time.”
Mando grunted. He left the cockpit and approached R2, who was stuck in a vent, wiggling his legs. Mando grabbed him and lugged him out of it. “There you go, R2.” R2 beeped, and Mando included, “You’re welcome.” He then returned to the cockpit, but stopped in the doorway, gripping it with both hands.
Rotta and Grogu soon approached him, and Grogu squeezed his ankle, leaving Mando to tighten his grip on the doorway. Out of nowhere, he shook Grogu off him, leaving the little alien to fall onto his front.
“Grogu!” Rotta pulled him to his feet. “What was that for, Mando? He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Luke and Zeb stopped focusing on the flight deck and peered over their shoulders at them.
“I don’t know, Rotta.” Mando shook his head and stepped back from the cockpit. “I’m sorry.” Why was he lashing out all of a sudden? Mando never did. A piece of him also wanted to rip Luke out of that pilot seat, but he stopped himself. “Make sure he doesn’t crash, Zeb.” Mando hustled by Rotta and Grogu, heading for the berthing compartment.
Whatever was going on with him… He had to figure it out before the worst happened.
ns216.73.217.39da2
and then Add to home screen.