19 | GUILT AND SORROWS

The next morning, Mando was the first one up from the bed. The child was still sleeping, so Celeste got up and entered the living area. She looked around and took in the damage she had done to the house. The furniture was all pushed away from the center of the room, where she once stood, and some smashed into little pieces from the impact. Celeste felt guilty as she noticed the destruction she caused.

She walked outside for a moment, looking for Mando. She saw him readying a speeder for him to take to town and check in on his ship. Cautiously, Celeste approached him. She fumbled her thumbs together, anxiously, as she waited for him to notice her. He turned around and looked at her, silently. "Mando..." She began, taking a step toward him.

He didn't budge. Not a word came out of his mouth and not a muscle moved in his body. "I'm sorry," she frowned, feeling the urge to cry again. She waited a moment before she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, allowing the cold beskar to sting her cheeks as she pressed her face into his chest. Mando caressed her head, comforting her. "Forgive me." Her voice was begging.

Mando couldn't not forgive her. He loved her too much. Was he scared of her a little bit? Yes. But that didn't erase the fact that he still cared about her. "You need help, Cel," Mando told her.

She didn't reply, she didn't think she needed help. I don't need help, I need to control the Force better. She thought to herself. In her mind, she was merely out of touch with her sensitivity to the force. But, that was not the case at all. In fact, she was quite in control of it. And when she became emotional, her emotions took the reins on the force.

* * *

The first order of business to move forward with finding the child's home was finding other Mandalorian to help him return the child to where it came from. What Mando didn't tell Celeste was that it was the Armorer that bestowed this mission upon Mando and that he learned that the people of his kind were enemies to the Mandalorian. People of his force-sensitive kind. Meaning, Celeste was supposed to his enemy, as well.

The only place that Mando knew where information about where other Mandalorians were located was with the criminal Gor Koresh. He hosted fighting pit events where other thugs could join and bet on their fighters. It was located in the slums of the planet Byss.

Celeste walked beside Mando, a scarf tied around her face to conceal the lower half of her face. A saber dangled on the right side of her waist below her cloak and on the left was a blaster, not able to be seen by any strangers. The child sat in his cradle which trailed the two as they approached the guard standing outside of the building where Koresh was located in.

"We're here to see Gor Koresh," Mando told the guard.

The guard looked down at the child, then back up at Mando. "Enjoy the fights," the guard allowed the three in without much hesitation.

They entered and their ears were flooding with the loud cheering from the vast crowd surrounding the fighting pits. On top of that, loud clanking sounds could be heard from the grunting fighters in the pit. Mando made his way down to Gor Koresh, who was seated in the front row. Celeste and the child followed his steps, and Celeste took a seat beside him. "You know this is no place for a child," Koresh spoke, eyeing the child.

"Wherever I go, he goes," Mando uttered back at the man.

Celeste scanned Koresh. He was terribly ugly, nearly all the Abyssins were. With their green complexion and singular eye, they were definitely a species that Celeste was glad she wasn't born into. "So I've heard," Koresh chuckled, lowly.

"I've been quested to bring him back to his kind," Mando continued to speak with Koresh as Celeste turned her attention to the fighting pits. The two champions were extremely violent as they swung their arms and swords at one another. She caught the child watching, intrigued, by the fight, and closed his cradle to protect his innocence.

Celeste tuned out Mando and Koresh's conversation for a while, knowing they were probably negotiating so Mando can receive information about where other Mandalorians were. A basket was handed to Celeste, filled with money, from another person in the audience. It was to bet on the champions. Celeste reached for her pockets to throw some money down, but, Mando grabbed the basket from her before she could and passed it down. "You don't gamble, Mando?" Koresh teased the man.

"Not when it can be avoided," he answered.

"What a pretty girl you have by your side, Mando," Koresh smiled, knowing a little bit too much about Celeste Gamorian is gonna die in the next minute and a half, and all you have to put up in exchange is the girl. I heard she worth quite a lot, dead or alive. And why not throw in your shiny beskar armor, too."

Celeste straightened her back, on high alert now that the man spoke such threatening words. Brave of him, really, considering he was alone against the two of them. Even Mando slowly cocked his head at the crime lord, Celeste sensing the daggers he was shooting at the man through his visor.

"I'm prepared to pay you for the information, I'm not leaving fate up to chance," Mando told.

"Nor am I." Koresh declared as he whipped out his blaster and shot the Gamorian that was fighting in the ring. As soon as he did so, four of his accomplices stood up--as they were pretending to be audience members--around Mando, Celeste, and the child, and pointed their blasters at the adults. One accomplice was in charge of Celeste, as he pressed his cold blaster at her throat. She kept still, not wanting to trigger them to shoot her.

Koresh half-heartedly laughed, "Thank you for coming to me. Normally, I have to seek out remnants of you Mandalorians in your hidden hives to harvest your precious shiny shells. Beskar's value continues to rise. I've grown quite fond of it. Give it to me, now, or I will peel it off your corpse." Koresh demanded with a satisfied smirk crossing his face.

The three other accomplices held their blasters at Mando, prepared to kill him if deemed necessary. Mando held still and did not show fear. "Tell me where the Mandalorians are and I'll walk outta here without killing you," Mando advised the Abyssin to not threaten his life, or else he'd suffer great consequences.

"I thought you said you weren't a gambler..." Koresh growled.

Mando stiffened. "I'm not," he notified right before a gadget on his forearm released four small missiles that flew directly to the men that held blasters at Mando and Celeste. The missiles took out the four men, then others from the ring and surrounding areas came storming in to attack Mando and Celeste. Cel wasted no time in whipping out her blaster and taking out a couple of attackers, to keep them away from Mando as he took care of the others. Once they freed themselves from Koresh's guards, Mando rushed out of the building to go after a fleeing Koresh.

Gor Koresh had been so quick that Celeste hadn't even seen him run out of the building. Celeste took the cradle with her as she headed outside after Mando. Once she was out there, she spotted Mando staring at a Koresh--with his feet tied together and his body hanging upside down from a lamppost.

"Tatooine it is then," Cel heard Mando say as he looked over to her and the floating cradle.

He gestured for her to walk with him, and she obliged, leaving Koresh behind still tied to the lamppost. "Wait, Mando! You can't leave me like this." Koresh shouted after the three.

"That wasn't part of the deal," Mando mumbled under his breath as they continued to walk away, leaving Koresh to whatever evils there were in the night of that city.

* * *

In the Crest, as the three flew off to Tatooine Celeste was watching over the ship as it flew in autopilot so that Mando could get some sleep. She knew absolutely nothing about ships, but Mando told her if anything started beeping or if any lights flicked on the dash, she was to wake him up.

She hoped nothing would happen so that he could sleep sufficiently, but, that didn't seem to work out as a little blue light turned on. Celeste began to panic. She hurried over to where Mando was sleeping and whispered, "Mando!"

He instantly shot up and out of his slumber, on high alert. "What?" He asked groggily.

"A light turned on the dash," she whispered over to him.

Mando wasted no time to hurry over to the cockpit and check the dash. He groaned quietly, "that just means the air cooler turned on."

"Oh..." Celeste shrunk under his stare. She became, even more, self-conscious as she couldn't read his face behind his helmet.

"It's fine, I'll trade-off with you for the night," Mando waved her off.

"No, you should rest some more before we arrive at Tatooine," Cel took a seat, indicating she wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm not tired anymore, anyway," Mando lied, he was exhausted. He took a seat next to Celeste in the cockpit.

Celeste leaned her head over on his padded shoulder. He relaxed at her sweet touch. "I love you, Mando," Celeste told him. At that very moment, Mando was reminded of the Celeste he knew. The Celeste he loved with a burning passion. At that moment he relaxed and assured himself that she wasn't too different, she was still herself.

"I love you, too, C," he uttered to her.

Celeste nuzzled up against him, placing a kiss on his helmet. Mando threw his arm around her body, pulling her closer to him. "Forever?"

"Forever."