CHEEK RESTING IN THE PALM OF HER HAND and a yawn escaping her lips, Mia was growing increasingly tired of watching the same Imperial post in the side of the mountain.

Mando emerged from the lower level of the ship after a couple hours of rest. The pair having repeated the same shift a couple times over.

"Oh good, you're up." Mia swivelled her seat to face her faceless companion. "I did some snooping around your ship."

He stilled. Though he had nothing to hide, he didn't like people sifting through his private property.

Mando noticed the darkening under her eyes. Neither of them had been getting adequate enough sleep and it was starting to show. Constantly watching out for signs of suspicious movement at the Imperial base was beginning to feel like a hopeless endeavour.

"I found this." She stood, holding a small device in the palm of her hand. "It's a game, right?" She stepped forward eagerly, "Can we play?"

"We've got a job to do." He grumbled and checked up on the viewing situation at the front of the ship.

She closed her eyes in frustration, "It's noon. They're going to have two more patrols before nightfall, nothing ever changes."

He ignored her as she burned a gaze in the back of his helmet.

"What game is it anyway?" She examined the small cube in her palm.

"Cu'bikahd."

"I've heard of it," she bit back a devious smile, "Amateur scavengers used to play it. Can't require much skill."

"It's all about skill." He replied.

She quirked a brow, shooting her last shot, "So you're not afraid you'll loose to someone who's never played before?"

He turned to face her. She sternly stared back at him. He knew what she was doing but it was working.

"One game." He said.

Just as Mia thought, an ego the size of the Death Star.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The pair sat in their seats, a large holographic cube separating them, emitted from the small device Mia had found. The object of the game was to aim daggers in the centre of the cube strategically, something she obviously enjoyed.

The yellow glow of the hologram illuminated her focused features as the Mandalorian remained as cool and collective as ever.

Positioned in their control seats at the front of the ship, they made sure they had a clear view of the base ahead of them as they played.

"You're cheating." He said.

"I don't even know how to cheat." She said, taking her turn which was another perfect hit.

The Mandalorian was once more thankful for his helmet concealing his embarrassed look.

Eyes steady and biting the inside of herself  mouth, Mia took one more shot, her holographic dagger hitting the cube with perfect precision, the light switching from yellow to a deep purple.

He leaned back and she clapped. "That means I won, right?" She laughed.

"Beginners luck."

"Sore looser." She muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

They turned to glance at the snow covered base that Mia was certain she could memorise every little detail of. The troops were on their first patrol of the evening. Two storm troopers stood watch at the front for a few minutes before stepping back into the base.

Neither of them wanted to say it, but they were starting to think they may have to intervene if nothing happened soon. They couldn't sit here forever.

Although the Mandalorian appeared to be gazing out the window also, his mind cast to the few good memories he had of Mandalore, which often involved a good game of Cu'bikahd. His hesitance to play correlated to the longing of his origin planet. He hadn't been back on Mandalore in a while.

Mia found herself watching the stationary yet irrevocably complex figure in front of her. He was thinking. She could always sense him thinking. Her inability to decipher what was going on in that head infuriated her. She was an open book to him while he shut himself off completely.

"You're staring again." He said.

She squinted, "I like to daydream about using your face as target practice."

He turned to face her, "You daydream about me?"

So he did have humour, she recalled.

"All the time." She said sarcastically, placing a dramatic hand on her heart, "I just find myself getting lost in your eyes — I mean helmet visor."

He was close to cracking a smile, but despite her not being able to see it anyway, he didn't.

"I've been told I have mesmerising eyes." said Mando.

Mia chuckled at the irony, "Told by who?"

He shifted his gaze down, seeming to forget she was even there as he once more shifted into a state of deep thought. He found himself doing it a lot more lately.

She waited as he failed to respond. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she asked, "Am I just supposed to take your word for it?"

"My mother." He said, "She used to say that eyes were the window to the soul."

He wasn't sure why the words were coming out of his mouth. He'd never spoke like this in front of another person, let alone a bounty partner. There was a certain ease he felt when he was around Mia - it removed the filter he was so used to holding up.

"I'll never forget seeing the beauty of her soul in her eyes, before she and my father were killed."

Mia sat silent, not a blink nor a breath. For the first time, she felt she was getting that small entrance into his brain. He was slowly opening the door to which she felt like she'd stood outside for an eternity.

He continued to look down, and after a moment of silence, Mia felt like she needed to offer some sort of condolences.

"Sometimes," a slight crack in her voice, "I wonder how different we could have turned out, if we were just given a chance. If the galaxy had treated our families with kindness, would we be better people for it?"

The softness of her voice drew him to watch her as she spoke. She sounded just as broken as him.

Her long hair fell around her face as she studied the metallic scratches on the ship floor. He watched her long lashes brush against the tops of her cheeks, fluttering over her tired eyes. Eyes which spoke to him like his mother's once had, telling him that among the disasters and the turbulences of the galaxy still remained beauty, serenity and hope.

She looked up to speak at the Mandalorian before her, stuck in her own transcendent moment of thought.

"But then sometimes I think," said Mia, "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

He broke his fixed gaze on the girl to dip his head into a small nod.

"Sometimes." He agreed.

Silence beheld the two for only a short while before Mia quickly rose to her feet. An alarmed look washed over her features as she leaned to look out the front window of the ship.

The base hangar doors had opened and a transport ship was being prepared to leave. She managed to get a small glimpse of a shackled woman boarding the vessel. The queen - it had to be, she thought.

"What's going on?" said Mando.

Though a reply was unnecessary as when he joined Mia to view the base from the window, his thoughts matched hers exactly.

"It's leaving." She said breathlessly, hurriedly turning to attach a tracker at the end of the sniper rifle.

They couldn't follow the ship without making it obvious they were there and as soon as it entered light speed it would be out of their reach immediately. They had come too far to let the queen slip between their fingers when they were so close.

"Open the hatch." She commanded, fastening the rifle into position, heart beating rapidly in her chest.

He obliged, quickly opening the hatch as he watched her step out into the barren snow-covered air wearing nothing but a single layer of clothing - but freezing to death seemed to be the last of her concerns.

Taking a deep breath of the icy air, Mia steadied the launcher in her hands and peeked one-eyed to get a clear shot of the side of the ship as it ascended.

Stepping forward almost into a run to get a precise hit of the now airborne ship, a panic rose in Mia. This was their only tracker, if she missed, they'd loose the queen all over again.

Mando watched the ground where she stepped and felt a lunge in stomach as he spotted a small unusual mound of snow a few feet in front of her.

It was a trap. He'd seen them before, hidden under mounds of snow like this one - and it was about to make a victim out of her.

"Mia!" He shouted.

"Shut up!" She growled, trying to hold her concentration.

Holding her breath for the shot, Mia pulled the trigger.

He couldn't stand and watch this happen. Falling into a sprint to catch up with the girl, Mando yelled with one more attempt, "Mia, don't move!"

"What?" She asked, the heel of her foot touching the outer ring of the mound of snow.

In a second, a piercing sound of a imploder  shook through the snow as Mia was lunged a few feet in the air before landing with a thud into the white powder.

Experiencing a blinding light followed by utter darkness, Mia recalled thinking to herself - What a fitting end.

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could you imagine if i just ended the book here oh my