29 | THE TOWN

The next morning, Ahsoka wasted no time to begin to train Grogu. Celeste spectated Ahsoka as she stood before Grogu and asked him to retrieve a rock from her hand. "Let's see what knowledge is lurking inside that little mind of yours," Ahsoka picked up a rock off the mossy ground and used the force to float it over to Grogu who sat a few meters away from her on a rock.

"Now return the stone to me, Grogu," Ahsoka instructed.

"He doesn't understand," Mando commented to her as Grogu merely stared at the stone he had caught in his palms.

"He does," Ahsoka returned her attention to the child, "the stone, Grogu." She spoke more forcibly.

Grogu simply threw the stone on the ground, seemingly giving up. Ahsoka sighed and approached Grogu. She gently grasped his tiny hand and closed her eyes, sensing his emotions. "Much fear," Ahsoka noted to Din and Celeste.

Ahsoka stood before him and turned to Din and Celeste. "He's hidden his ability to survive over the years. Let's try something else. Come over here." Ahsoka ordered Celeste.

"I want to see if he will listen to you," Ahsoka mentioned as Celeste headed over toward her. Ahsoka placed a stone she picked up off the floor into Celeste's palm.

"Tell him to take it," Ahsoka instructed.

Cel nodded and held out her palm toward the kid. "Take the stone, baby," Celeste told Grogu.

Grogu made a sound that looked like he was interpreting her instruction as playtime, yet made no advances to take the stone from her. "Grogu, now," Celeste raised a brow at him.

Grogu lifted his ears at the sound of his voice. Still, to no avail. Celeste sighed and thought quickly of a way to get him to listen to her. As she did so, she stuffed her free hand in her pocket, warming her hand from the cool air around them. Just as her hand escaped the cold, she felt the small metal ball Grogu was playing within the ship earlier that she had put away. Celeste smirked, mischievously, knowing Grogu wouldn't resist trying to take that ball from her. She pulled out the shiny piece of metal and shot him a toothy smile. "Grogu..." she rolled the ball between two fingers, "I know you want it. Take it."

Grogu perked up, growing eager at the sight of the toy. His arms shot up into the air and he began whining for the ball. "No pouting, you take it," Celeste told him.

Grogu listened to her and used the Force to take it from her. Once in his clutches, Grogu stuck the ball into his mouth and began knawing on it. Din clasped his hands together. "Good job, kid!" He praised the kid, then sighed out in relief. He seemed anxious that the kid wouldn't pass this Jedi's trial.

"He's formed a strong attachment to you two," Ahsoka noted suddenly, "I cannot train him." She announced, folding her arms across her chest.

Celeste snapped her head over to Ahsoka. "What?!"

"I understand you rejecting me, but, him, too?!" Celeste growled.

"His attachment to you two makes him vulnerable to his fears. His anger," Ahsoka tried to explain.

Celeste palmed her forehead. "I've heard you say this a million times by now, Ashoka. You might not find it safe to train him but to not is even more unsafe to leave him untrained. He can't protect himself from the empire. And we can't protect him, either," Celeste told Ahsoka.

"I've what such feelings can do to a fully trained Jedi Knight," Ahsoka's eye darkened.

"He is not Anakin!" Celeste gritted her teeth.

"I will not start this child down that path. Better to let his abilities fade. I've delayed too long. I must get back to the village," Ahsoka turned on her heel to leave the three, as she was no help for them anymore.

"The magistrate sent me to kill you," Din announced, loudly.

Ahsoka stopped in her tracks, her back still facing the three as she had just begun to walk away from them. Slowly, she turned around to face the Mandalorian. "I didn't agree to anything. And I'll help you with your problem if you see to it that Grogu is properly trained," Din negotiated with her.

A flicker of interest sparked in Ahsoka's eyes. She needed his help if she were going to get past all those guards to get to the magistrate--the woman she needed to see all along.

* * *

Eventually, though with much hesitation, Ahsoka agreed. "She offered a staff of pure beskar to Mando to kill you. She thinks I'm his prisoner, it should be an easy attack once he and I get on the inside," Celeste explained.

"She's got guards lined all around the wall. But I think we should be able to handle it," Mando mentioned.

"Don't underestimate her, she's stronger than you think," Ahsoka warned.

"Who is she, anyway?" Mando inquired, wondering why this woman was so powerful and so heavily guarded.

"Morgan Elsbeth. During the Clone Wars, her people were massacred. She survived, and let her anger fuel and industry which helped build the Imperial Starfleet," Ahsoka quickly recapped for the two.

"Yeah, I can see that," Celeste gestured to the destroyed forests around them on the grayish planet, "not just here, on the inside with those prisoners, too."

Ashoka perked up. "How many prisoners were there?"

"Three," Din and Cel replied simultaneously.

"We must free them," Ahsoka noted.

Mando chuckled a bit as a thought popped up into his head. "A Mandalorian and a Jedi? They'll never see it coming."

* * *

Ashoka went for an attack approach to entering the village. She instructed Celeste to put cuffs on and run toward the gate. Celeste's feet pounded against the gravel ground as hard as she could. Her legs pushed her as quickly as she could and she began shouting at the guards. "Help! Help! The Jedi is coming!" Celeste screamed as her wrists were loosely bound together.

The guards recognized Celeste as she was the Mandalorian's prisoner, and quickly allowed her inside by opening the gate. Celeste rushed inside and a guard grabbed her to stop her from running past them. Celeste heaved, "she--she--" Celeste stammered, putting on the best show of her life.

Celeste looked down at her feet, still panting for air--which was not an act since all that sprinting made her exhausted. Suddenly, Celeste used her cuffs to wrap them around the guard's throat that stopped her. The guard reached for his blaster but Celeste yanked back on her cuffs, pulling him onto the ground. Celeste huffed once the man was on the ground and broke her cuffs that were binding her wrists together. Cel pulled out her blaster, spinning it with her finger. Quickly, she shot the guard's face and ended his life.

The bells of the village began to ring loudly, indicating danger to the magistrate. But, Ahsoka used that as her queue to enter and take out the guards on top of the gate. Celeste looked up at the top of the wall and curtly nodded at Ahsoka. Ahsoka shot her a warning look, telling her to be careful as she could not engage in much combat like before if she planned on keeping that child.

Mando had no clue, yet, about the kid, else he would've never let her step foot near that village. It was probably not smart of Celeste to have gone. But she wanted to engage, to see a real Jedi fight.

Celeste continued into the village, hurrying over to the prisoners and opening their torturous cages to free them. She killed some guards on the way with her blaster, all long-range shots as none of them even got the chance to come close to her before she or Ahsoka took them out. Soon, Mando even joined the fights and peeled any other guards off of Celeste as she freed the prisoners, allowing them to scurry away.

Celeste pushed further, to the magistrate's gardens where she awaited with two of her guards. "A prisoner, huh?" The magistrate's voice purred, as she was making the connection that she had been fooled by the Mandalorian since the beginning.

Celeste didn't even react before using her blaster to take out the two guards standing beside Morgan Elsbeth. Celeste knew she was too far into the fight. Ahsoka was supposed to have taken over at that point. She wasn't even supposed to come close to Morgan. Yet, there Celeste was, standing only meters away from the woman. Morgan did not hesitate to pull out her pure beskar staff. Fearful, Celeste pulled out her own saber, which had been securely fastened to her belt all that time. Morgan's eyes glowered in interest as she spotted the saber. "Not a Jedi, not a Sith... who are you?" She questioned.

Celeste knew it wasn't a question Morgan was particularly wanting an answer for, as Morgan was now charging toward her to kill her. Celeste readied herself and allowed Morgan to come to her. Once Morgan got close enough, Celeste blocked Morgan's blow with her saber. The connection made the two materials hiss as they simmered against each other, neither material damaging the other.

Morgan pulled back, shooting daggers at Celeste. Fortunately, Ahsoka had just arrived on time, dueling Morgan and pushing her further away from Celeste. "Get out, now!" Ahsoka shouted at Cel, causing her to bolt out of the garden.

Celeste listened only for the small fact that she felt the need to protect herself now that her body hosted another entity. Also, because she hadn't heard from Din in a while and needed to make sure he was okay fighting off the guards outside the garden all alone.

As she exited the gates to the garden, she spotted Mando standing there--over Elsbeth's commanding guard's body. It seemed the guard tried to attack Mando and intervene in Ahsoka's fight with Morgan. But, Mando didn't let him even get near. "Din," she called for him, causing him to turn around to face her. His entire demeanor changed upon seeing her. His shoulders relaxed and he took a step toward her. She scurried over to him and scanned his armor for any damage. "Did you get hurt out there?"

"I'm fine," he assured her, "you?"

"Same here, are there any more guards?"

Din shook his head at her. "We can go alert the citizens, then," she told him as she began to leave his side.

Din grabbed her wrist as she began to leave. "They already know, they've begun plans to repair the city in the bank building," Mando pointed over to the large, pale grey building a little ways away from where they stood.

"It's so quiet," Celeste mentioned, the town seemed dead. There was not one soul to be seen.

"They retreated into the bank, and once things quieted down out here, I gave them a signal that they were safe. They won't come out until I signal that Ahsoka is done with Elsbeth." Mando explained.

* * *

Once Ahsoka had Morgan Elsbeth in her custody, Mando alerted the citizens. And they began flooding the streets of the town with their cheery faces--a scene very much unlike what they had seen when they first arrived. Mando and Celeste stood outside of the outer gate, watching the people celebrate their freedom and reclaim their town when Ahsoka approached the two with Elsbeth's pure beskar staff in hand. It was the staff Elsbeth had offered Mando in return for Ahsoka.

"I believe this was your payment," Ashoka held out the staff for Mando to grab.

Mando shook his head at the Jedi woman. "No, I can't accept. I didn't finish the job," he explained. He didn't truly earn the reward.

"No, but this belongs with a Mandalorian." Ahsoka gestured for him to take the staff.

Hesitantly, he took it. "Where is your little friend?" Ahsoka asked about Grogu.

"Back at the ship. Wait here, I'll... go get him," Mando headed off to retrieve the child for Ahsoka to take. Since it was, in fact, part of the deal.

Celeste stayed behind, sensing Ahsoka had some words to share with her. "You still didn't tell him?"

"If I told him before all this, he wouldn't have let me help," Celeste explained.

"We could've taken care of it ourselves," the Jedi mentioned.

"Do I look like a woman that would be okay with just sitting back and waiting?"

"You're right, I shouldn't have even let that thought cross my mind," Ahsoka couldn't resist but to let out a small chuckle.

Ahsoka's eyes were filled with sadness and guilt. Celeste could read her like a book, the Jedi wouldn't be very good at playing a card game with her. "What is it?" Cel asked.

Ahsoka shook her head, brushing it off as nothing. Celeste narrowed her eyes at the woman, trying to pressure her for some answers. "What?"

Ahsoka paused, still hesitant to tell her although she would eventually have to tell her the truth. "You and I both know I cannot train the kid," Ahsoka spoke.

Celeste should've been shocked. She should've been devastated. Yet, she wasn't. A mix of emotions overcame her. She was angry at Ahsoka, yet not surprised due to her claims of not being able to train the child due to his affections to Celeste and Mando. She also felt relieved, deep down, she didn't want to part ways with the child. He was basically her son at this point. They had been through so much together and she felt the need to protect him and know of his whereabouts. Though, she couldn't admit that out loud since it simply wasn't fair to keep the child for her own selfish desires. Although Ahsoka's inability to train Grogu was only a temporary extension of Celeste and Grogu's time together, it felt good to not have to part ways with him so soon. "And you and I both know we can't keep him, especially under my current circumstances," Celeste glanced down to her belly. It wasn't evident yet, but, somehow, she could imagine a little beating heart inside her.

"I still made a promise, though. So, I will give you what information I have. The only chance of this child being taken care of by my kind would be if you take him to the planet Tython, there you will find the ancient ruins of a temple that has a strong connection to the Force. Place Grogu on the seeing stone at the top of the mountain. Then Grogu may choose his path. If he reaches out through the force, there's a chance a Jedi will sense his presence and come searching for him. Then again... there aren't many Jedi left," Ahsoka told her.

Celeste took a deep breath. "And for me?"

"Do the same. You will sense the fates you will have to depend on the path you take. I do not know everything, but I do know that the path you desire to take is harmful, to yourself, your child, and your soulmate."