23 | SPIDERY RESCUE

No matter how hard Celeste tried, she simply could not sleep. The bitter cold was out of her element. She enjoyed the sunshine and bathing in warm rays coming from a system's star. A cold planet such as the one she was currently on was not one she could see herself spending the rest of her life on. That was if she would ever be able to settle somewhere for the rest of her life with Mando by her side. It did worry her, that she'd end up as some vagabond with Mando. But, as he laid there, his arms crossed and his weight leaning against her, it made her forget about all that. It made all the sacrifices that would come seem worth it.

She was no longer being hunted. And, soon enough, the kid would be safe with his own--force sensitive-- kind, the kind that knew how to control their ability and protect him with it. Celeste watched as the frog lady began fidgeting with the old droid Mando had destroyed and left on the ship for spare parts.

But, that got boring quickly. So, Celeste wiggled herself away from the sleeping Mando and child to go explore outside, since it wasn't any warmer in the ship than it was out there. She made sure to drag her feet through the snow as she walked so she wouldn't get lost in the snowy desert. Nearby, she spotted a cave opening. There was a blue hue emitting from inside. Her curiosity piqued and pushed her exploration inside the cave. The further she moved in, the warmer she felt. Soon, she saw columns of steam rising from the from a ways away.

Her eyes tracked the columns of warm, thick steam down to the natural pools of the cave. It seemed to be purified water, it was clearer than any glass she had ever seen. There were no animals around, nor were there any animals swimming around inside the pools. It looked like a haven. Feeling drawn to the warm, Celeste stripped herself of her clothes and slipped into one of the pools, relishing the heat it brought her. It felt like a warm, fuzzy blanket wrapping around her bare body. It was utter bliss.

But, her time at the pool was soon cut short when she heard heavy steps marching toward where she was. She recognized the footsteps, knowing Mando all too well now, as the armored man. "Celeste, you can't be here--" He began, but stopped his sentence short when he noticed her clothes were off. He gulped--trying to be gentlemanlike--and looked away.

"I know it's warm, but it's not safe out here," he picked up her clothes and held it up without looking at her, "put it on." He ordered.

Celeste groaned, submerging her head under the water for as long as she could so she wouldn't have to leave. Grunting, Mando gave up trying to be respectful--as he had seen all of her before--and approached the edge of the pool. He looked down at her, shaking his head in disapproval. She rose from the water, only her shoulder poking out, right at his feet--at the edge of the pool. He squatted down so they were closer to eye level. "Get out," he held out her clothes over her head.

"Make me," she stuck her tongue out playfully at him.

"We don't have time to play games, Cel," he spoke, seriously, as he nearly always did.

Celeste rose her arms to grab the collar of his armor, biting her lower lip enticingly. Mando stiffened under her stare, feeling vulnerable. Celeste used this to her advantage to pull him into the pool with her. "What the hell are you doing?" Mando groaned as he was now sopping wet.

Celeste burst into laughter. "What?" She pouted her lower lip, sarcastically, "you didn't see that coming big man?"

Mando sighed. Celeste clung onto Mando, wrapping her legs around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder. Mando's heart fluttered at the interaction. "I love you, forever," she whispered, not wanting to let go of him.

"I love you, too," Mando spun Celeste in the pool, receiving a giggle from her, "now let's get dried off and get back to the ship." He told her.

"Only if I get a kiss in exchange," Celeste huffed.

"You pulling me into the pool was already your exchange," Mando chuckled softly. Celeste loved it when she heard his laughter. It was so rare to hear.

"What if I said please?"

"No." He said simply before he climbed out of the pool.

Celeste followed out and began wringing out her clothes that Mando had fallen into the pool with. She quickly got dressed in her damp clothes, and she and Mando walked back to the ship in the bitter cold. Instantly, Celeste changed her attire and climbed under many blankets to warm back up as much as possible.

Mando changed as well, making sure he wouldn't get sick from the wet clothes. When Celeste returned to the common area of the ship, she saw the frog lady fretting quietly over her eggs. She waved over Celeste and held up a microphone to her mouth--it was a makeshift microphone as she had built it from the scraps Mando had aboard. "Do not be alarmed," the sound of the busted droid began speaking.

Celeste took a frightened step back, surprised at the suddenly working droid. "I have accessed the droid's vocabulator to speak with you. You are the only one on this ship that seems to be convincing enough to that Mandalorian. I need to get to my husband as fast as possible. My eggs are going to die off, they are already freezing up," the frog lady spoke.

Celeste inhaled sharply, looking over at the container of her eggs. "I'll talk to him, in the meantime, follow me..." Celeste instructed, "bring the eggs, too."

Celeste led the woman to the warm pools so that she could warm her eggs up. She left the woman there with her eggs and returned to find Mando on the ship. "Mando," Celeste began, "sitting here won't get us out of here any quicker. You need hands? I've got them. We've gotta get that lady to her husband, and get some food for the kid... and me, I'm starving... I have been starving for a while now."

"That deal with her is off Cel. You see what traveling sublight does," Mando responded as he tinkered with something in the cockpit.

"Aren't Mandalorians supposed to keep their promises or something? I sure would hope so if you were planing on promising yourself to me," Celeste let her tongue slip that she knew of his plans.

Mando stopped what he was doing and paused before turning around to face her. "What makes you think that?" He spoke quietly, making chills go down her spine.

"I saw the ring, Mando. You're not the greatest at hiding things in this ship," she told, crossing her arms.

Mando was still, making Celeste uncomfortable under his unreadable gaze. That stupid visor. It hid every expression of his, making him hard to read. Celeste threw her hands up to cover her face, blocking her vision. "I know, I shouldn't have even gone rummaging through your stuff, but I swear I was just looking for a snack! Forget I even said it, that ring wasn't even probably for me, I was just assuming--" Celeste kept rambling and rambling with her face buried into her hands. All the while, Mando stood up, took off his helmet, and approached her.

He stopped her ranting when he gently grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms away from her face. She was frowning and on the brink of tears. "Why are you going to cry?" He asked her, smiling small at her saddened face. It was so adorable seeing her so frustrated.

"I don't know," her lip quivered. Her emotions were running high.

"I thought it was too early to ask," Mando explained to her.

"You have horrible timing," Celeste laughed through the tears she was struggling to hold back.

Mando placed his gloved hands at the bottom of her jaw and pulled her in for a kiss. When they parted, Mando smiled down at her. "What were you saying about getting us out of here?"

* * *

Celeste was helping out Mando reconstruct the outside of the ship when he suddenly asked. "Where is the lady, anyway?"

"Um..." Celeste tried to stall so that she could stay in the pools longer.

Mando cocked his helmeted head at her. "You didn't--"

"I did," Celeste scrunched up her nose.

Mando marched back into the cave, this time the kid seeing him go in there and followed in. Celeste stayed back, continuing to do the same process Mando showed her to fix the damage to the ship over and over again. The others were gone in the cave for a while before Celeste began to hear a ruckus coming from within. A loud screech could be heard from afar. Celeste's heart dropped as she realized the child was in there, too. She prayed Mando had taken notice and didn't leave the kid behind with whatever new beast they were running from.

Within seconds of the screeching, Celeste spotted Mando, carrying the child, bolting out of the cave. He was being followed by what seemed to be millions of white spiders. Celeste's stomach dropped, the gut feeling making her lightheaded. She was conflicted whether to run toward Mando, the Child, the woman, and the spiders or stay back by the ship.

She let them come to her, and when Mando was close enough, he practically tossed her the kid. "Take them to the pit!" Mando shouted frantically as he spun on his heel to begin using his blaster to shoot at the spiders.

Celeste did as told and rushed the two into the cockpit, where there were doors to seal them off from the attacking spiders. Once inside, Celeste hesitated to close the door--wanting to wait for Mando to come. The frog lady began squealing at Celeste to close the door, but Celeste refused, pulling out her own blaster to keep off the few spiders that made it past Mando on the lower level of the ship.

When she spotted the shiny helmet crawling up the ladder to the upper level of the ship, Celeste hovered her hand over the button to close the door of the cockpit. "Come on!" She yelled at Mando, who was taking his time to get over to her as he was shooting at the spiders coming up the ladder after him. Fortunately, he listened, and just as the edge of his heel made it past the doorway, Celeste pressed the button which slammed the door shut, keeping out any more of those wretched spiders.

Celeste took a deep breath, pressing her back against the wall. Small tapping could be heard on the glass of the windshield. Celeste's eyes tracked the sound and watched as the white spiders began to swarm the ship. Mando turned to the panel of the ship and began roaring it to life. "Strap yourselves in!" He barked.

They all did so, Celeste taking the child in her lap as they began to take off. "I've got limited visibility, it's going to be a bumpy ride," Mando told, then began lifting the ship off of the icy ground.

Unfortunately, their advances to leave were quickly put to a stop when a giant white spider rushed into the area and jumped on top of the ship. The mere weight of the spider pushed the ship began to the ground. Then, the mother spider began stabbing her legs into the cockpit, managing to shatter the glass. Celeste flinched, covering her face as the windshield shattered around her. The mother spider proceeded to put her mouth, lined with sharp teeth, on the windshield, trying to break it more.

Celeste felt Mando's grip on her leg, him bracing for their impact. But, just before the spider could continue attacking them, bright red lasers began firing at the spider from outside the ship. Someone had come to save them. That was quite unusual since Mando and Celeste couldn't say they had many allies. Mando let go of Celeste and shot to his feet to go see who had come to their rescue. He was wary of any visitors, knowing they could have bad intentions. Or they could be those New Republic officers that nearly arrested Mando earlier.

Celeste put down the child and hurried after him, knowing that there had to be more than one person out there, and if he needed backup, she'd be there. She stayed inside the ship, not revealing herself to the newcomers. Then, she heard a recognizable voice speak out. It was one of the New Republic officers that had stopped Mando earlier. "We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest. You have an arrest warrant for the abduction of prisoner X-Six-Nine-Eleven. However, onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits from the Wanted Register. Security records also show that you put your own life in harm's way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Corretional Corps. Is this true?" The patrol officer asked Mando.

"Am I under arrest?" Mando spoke, his voice seemingly tired and croaky.

The officer paused before answering. "Technically, you should be. But these are trying times."

"What say I forego the bounties on these three criminals, and you two help me fuse my hull so I can get off this frozen rock?" Mando proposed.

"What say you fix that transponder and we don't vaporize that antique the next time we patrol the Rim?" The officer's voice grew a bit hostile.

Then, Celeste heard the two X-Wings take off. Mando reentered the ship, seeing Celeste waiting for him. "It's okay, we're okay now," Celeste spoke, mostly to reassure herself, "we'll fix the cockpit and barely make it to Trask. There, we can fix the ship and get the information we need, then leave," Celeste spoke rapidly, creating a list of things to do out loud. Mando grabbed her hands and pulled her into his chest to calm her down after her adrenaline kicked up to unreasonable levels.