Night fell rather quickly. They stopped to camp at the base of a massive tree that must've been thousands of years old. Its worn bark was covered in scratches and creases that it had gained over the years.

Erin warmed herself by the fire after draping what clothes she could over the gnarled tree roots to dry. Nearby, Din skinned an animal he'd caught earlier while the child looked on in awe, eager to dig in.

Fireflies glittered in the distance. Erin watched as they blinked and disappeared, only to reappear in a different patch of darkness. They illuminated the forest with their light show, dancing without a care in the world.

She wished she could live so carelessly. So carefree.

"The uknod should finish cooking in a few minutes."

Erin flinched, not expecting Din's sudden appearance beside her. She cursed herself for reacting that way and quickly gathered her nerves.

"Good. I'm starving." She said with a light chuckle. Her hands fidgeted mindlessly in her lap.

Din turned his head to look at her. "Something on your mind?" He asked after an awkward period of silence.

The fidgeting worsened. Her fingernails dug into her skin. "I think I'm just tired. You know, from all that running and swimming I did." She deflected his question.

He frowned behind his visor, but did not press further. With a sigh, he faced the crackling fire once more.

As the forest settled in, its nighttime inhabitants were just beginning to rise. Strange noises and animalistic howls occasionally arose to shatter the silent atmosphere, but were too distant to be a real threat. Suvol's ashen thickets would be considered quiet if the two were compared. 

Erin felt a nudge on her leg and looked down. The child cooed softly at her, lifting his little arms. She smiled and wordlessly pulled him into her lap. Her thumb gently brushed over the fuzz on his wrinkled forehead.

"Do you enjoy living this way?" The words left her mouth faster than she could comprehend.

"I'm not sure I understand." Din replied after a moment.

Erin swallowed thickly. "What I mean is do you enjoy being able to live your life without someone always telling you what to do?" The words fumbled awkwardly past her lips. "Like, you can go anywhere and always have a job. You aren't stuck in one place. I guess what I'm trying to say is... what's it like not living my life?"

Din stared at the fire, the light from it casting a warm glow across his beskar. "Bounty hunting is a complicated profession." He said. "There are highs and lows, and sometimes you get killed before you even have the chance to reap the rewards."

"Why take the risk if there's no guarantee?"

"It's what I was trained to do. It's all I've ever known."

Erin gently stroked one of the baby's ears, watching as he fiddled with a small metal ball.

Wait a minute... how did he—? Pah, it's not worth trying to figure out.

"That lifestyle has to get old after a while. Don't you want to settle down? Maybe start a family?" She inquired.

He looked at her. His blank visor masked his emotion. "What's with all the questions? You never talk this much."

She resisted the urge to spill it all right then and there. Not now.

"I was curious." She replied, though her lie was about as obvious as the fact that he was a Mandalorian. "We haven't talked like this in a while."

"You chose your path."

She pursed her lip. "I know."

And it was the worst mistake I've ever made.

Din leaned forward to check on the uknod. Erin pulled her legs closer, gazing down at the child with eyes brimming with tears she refused to shed. She wiped them away with her arm.

Thankfully, it was too dark for him to notice.

***

Dawn finally broke.

The planet's twin suns crawled above the horizon, flooding the surface with their light. Sunlight filtered through the trees, bouncing from leaf to leaf until it found a clear path to the forest floor.

Erin awoke to the warmth of the suns on her face. Lifting her hand to shield her eyes, she yawned and pushed herself upright.

The smoldering remains of the fire had long since gone cold and now lay scattered across the opening. Off to her left, she spotted Din fiddling with his rifle as he leaned back against the speeder bike.

Upon seeing her stand up, he lifted his head. "I've got some ration bars for us to eat. You ready to go?" He called.

"Yeah." She said, rolling her shoulders a few times to loosen up her back muscles. The ground she slept on hadn't been very kind to her. "Just let me get these clothes on."

Despite her not needing to undress, Din felt that he should avert his gaze out of respect anyway. He absentmindedly studied the branches of a tree as they swayed in the wind until Erin came over and bumped his shoulder.

"You ready to go?" She teased, laughing at his startled reaction.

He sighed and clambered onto the bike.

Once Erin and the child were settled, with Erin in the back and the child in the front, Din turned the bike around and drove off into the undergrowth.

He took a wide path, making sure to avoid the settlement from before. Erin took in the sights and sounds of the forest during the ride. She wished she didn't have to leave so soon. The warmth of the air was energizing. It made her want to hike into the woods and see all there was to see. Who knows when she'd see another planet like this one. Then again, Din must visit all sorts of interesting planets. Perhaps she'd fall in love with the next one they visited. Anything that wasn't Suvol was fine by her.

The Crest couldn't be much further. Erin felt the bike lurch forward as Din slowed down.

"What's wrong?" She asked over his shoulder, her eyebrows furrowing together in worry.

"Look."

She lifted her gaze as he pointed ahead. A black plume of smoke rose high above the trees on the horizon, sharply contrasting with the clear blue sky surrounding it. Anyone could see it from miles away.

Erin's heart leapt into her throat. "Those people may need our help!"

"We have our own problems to worry about." Din huffed through his modulator.

"You wouldn't want someone to pass you up if you were in trouble, would you?" Erin argued. She knew he couldn't resist helping those in need, even if he acted like it was a bothersome task.

He stared at her for a moment, then groaned. "Fine. But if it's more than we can handle, I'm getting us back to the Crest. Got it?"

"Crystal clear. Let's go." Erin grinned. She was ready for more action.