What is with this kid?
That was the fifth time Mando had pulled Grogu off his ankle; he had dragged him all the way from Adelphi’s beach to the New Republic Base, and hadn’t even been at the planet for two hours yet, hadn’t even gotten the chance to see Rotta. The kid wouldn’t leave him alone. It had been like that ever since they defeated the Hutt twins.
“Hell,” Mando mumbled when Grogu cooed at him (he had done that a lot lately, too). “Do you want to see Rotta?” he inquired in his best fatherly voice, even though he was still learning to be one.
Grogu replied with more coos. Lifting his arms, he offered them to Mando, who dropped them.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, kid.” When did these aliens learn to talk? Grogu was already older than Mando, but his species aged more slowly than humans. “It’s either Rotta or training,” Mando continued. Not that Grogu had put much effort into training lately—he was too busy coddling Mando.
"Mando!" a voice soon shouted over a gust of warm tropical wind, brought in by the ocean surrounding the base. Rotta emerged from behind an X-Wing and slithered toward Mando and Grogu, still as big and strong as ever, with muscles larger than Mando's arms and legs. It was still sometimes hard to believe that he was one of the nicest aliens Mando had ever met, even though his appearance and origin said otherwise.
“How’s my favorite bounty hunter?” Rotta reached Mando and Grogu, then picked up Mando and squeezed him like a doll. His secreting skin covered Mando’s chest armor in slime, and he pushed away.
Brown eyes landing on Grogu, Rotta dropped Mando and asked, “Oh! How’s my little guy?”
He reached to pat Grogu’s head, but Grogu dodged his hand and hurried to Mando, who sat. He crawled into his lap and curled up in a fetal position.
Sighing, Mando met Rotta’s eyes. “He’s the reason why I came back. I knew you were here, and I need someone to take him off my hands for a bit.” After all, he couldn’t complete his missions if Grogu constantly annoyed him. Maybe this would’ve been easier if Mando had a wife, but he didn’t.
“What’s the problem, little guy?” Rotta brought his tail slightly forward and rested his elbows on it. His eyes bore into Grogu. “Did something happen?”
“I…” Mando’s voice trailed. “I just don’t think I’m cut out for this whole parenting thing. I don’t know what I did that he now can’t leave me alone.”
“You just need a break. Everyone does.” Rotta got down on Grogu’s level and slapped his palms on the ground. “Do you want to play with Big Brother Rotta, Grogu?”
Grogu only cuddled closer to Mando.
“Aw, no?” Hurt flashed in Rotta’s eyes. “We may need a professional, Mando.”
Mando picked up Grogu and rose to his feet. “That’s what I’m thinking. I was hoping that maybe I could find the coordinates to him here.”
“Who?” Rotta tilted his head.
Silence… And then Mando spoke:
“A Jedi. Grogu trained with him for a little while.”
“A Jedi?” Rotta’s eyes widened. “Really—they’re still around? Who?”
Beep. Beep.
A red light flashed on one of Mando’s arm gauntlets. “Hold that thought,” he said, pressing the button.
A shadow soon appeared in the sky (covered behind clouds), and a beam of light smashed into one of the grounded X-Wings, sending pieces flying in every direction.
Instantly, people scattered, and pilots hurried for their own X-Wings. “What was that?” Mando heard one pilot ask.
Mando looked up, and his eyes caught the shadow behind the cloud. “There’s something big there,” he said, examining the hologram above his gauntlet that showed a flashing red dot above the base.
“A starship?” Rotta guessed.
Mando looked at him. “There’s only one way to find out.” He nodded. “This is The Way.”
“This is The Way.” Rotta returned his nod.
Mando looked down at Grogu, who tugged his neck sleeve. “Grogu, you’re going to stay here with Rotta, and I’ll check out what’s up there.” Instantly, Grogu shook his head, but Mando included, “Don’t worry about me.” With those words, he turned Grogu over to Rotta and backed away. Before Grogu could stop him, he pressed another button on his armor.
Sparks escaped from Mando’s jetpack, and he launched into the sky like a spaceship, arms held out to his sides, face serious behind his helmet. God, the thing was hot, but he had already broken the Code too many times. He needed to start taking risks again, even though he had a kid now, and his body wasn’t as young as it used to be.
The young protect the old. Not today. Today, the old protected the young.
The thought flowed through Mando’s brain like the babbling brook on Nal Hutta, near where he almost died. The Dragonsnake, its fangs stabbing his side, still occasionally replayed in his head. There it was now, but Mando shook away the image and clenched his fists, flying faster toward the cloud and the mysterious shadow.
This is The Way.
ns216.73.217.151da2
and then Add to home screen.