Omera and the Mandalorian walked to the edge of the krill ponds.

He turned to face her, and he almost seemed...nervous. Almost. He was a serious man, she knew, but he was by no means without emotion. Omera willed her soul to be still as he began to speak. This was the deciding moment.

"It's...very nice here," he began. She held back a laugh. This man was terrible at small talk, and even worse at speaking gently.

"Yes," she said instead, smiling. And it was. It was a quiet life, and sometimes a difficult one, but it was very nice.

"I think it's clear he...he's happy here," he said, looking briefly over her shoulder at the young one, playing with the other children.

Yes, the little one was happy here. She felt he could be happy anywhere. He had a big heart for one so small, and an endless curiosity about the world around him. Winta loved him. She would talk endlessly about him whenever she wasn't watching him, about whatever mischief they found or what the little one had stuck in his mouth that day (most recently was a frog).

But while her daughter lost her heart to the child, Omera knew she was losing her heart to the man.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Are you happy here?" He said nothing, which spoke more of his wishes than anything. He was wavering, perhaps. Maybe all he needed was encouragement, to know that he was wanted. "We want you to stay." I want you to stay. "The community's grateful." I am grateful. "You can pack all this away in case there's ever trouble," she added, gesturing to his armor. There would always be trouble, of course, but instead of it being his life, it would only ever be a guest. He remained silent and she could feel his eyes on her face, intense, like he always was. She wanted to give him the chance to relax, to feel safe, to have hope for a future full of love and light. "You and your boy could have a good life. He could be a child for a while. Wouldn't that be nice?" Life on the run...it would be difficult for one man to look after such a young child, and even more difficult to find chances to let that child be free to explore without fear, to learn and grow. To have a family.

"It would," he said at length, and his voice sounded thick with emotion. A little wistful. Sad.

She would not let him go without giving him every reason to stay. This man, this warrior, this lonely hunter had wandered into her life by chance, but if he stayed, it would be deliberate. She would welcome him with open arms.

She took a deep breath and reached up to his helmet. Slowly, carefully. If he let her take it off, it would change everything. If not, she would understand. It would hurt, but every being deserved to choose their path in life. She hoped with all her heart that he chose to walk the paths of life with her.

He brought up his hands…

...but he did not stop her. The gloved hands hovered near her wrists but did not touch them.

She could feel the smile on her face. He will stay.

And then the sound of a blaster broke the peaceful, life-changing moment. The Mandalorian whipped around, grabbing his blaster and keeping her behind him as he scanned the treeline.

"Go get the kids," he said, and she turned and ran. Although no words had yet been said about the new understanding they had, she knew they were thinking the same thing: keep our family safe.

—

The Mandalorian was packing the cart with his supplies.

It wasn't safe here. There were bounty hunters after his young charge, and if they stayed, the village would suffer for it.

Omera knelt down in front of Winta, who was valiantly trying not to cry. "I have a very important question for you," she started, making sure her daughter's focus was on her face and not the tiny green child sitting on the edge of the cart. Winta nodded and met her eyes. "They have to go. It's not safe. But we could go with them."

Winta's eyes widened. "Yes!" she cried, but Omera had to shake her head.

"I want you to think about this, Winta. We'd be leaving the village behind. All your friends, our house, everything. It would just be the four of us, and you'd have to listen to everything we say to keep you and the little one safe."

Winta pursed her lips and looked at the ground for a while. When she looked up, she asked, "But we'll be a family, right?"

Omera smiled. "Yes."

"I'll get a dad and a baby brother?"

"Yes."

Winta looked over at the man loading the cart. He had stopped and was looking in their direction, one of his hands resting on the little one's back to keep him steady. She looked back at Omera and smiled. "Yes. Yes, I want to go."

Omera gave her a hug. "Then we'd better pack. We have to leave soon."

There were only a few things to pack that would be of use on a ship, in their new life, and while the goodbyes to the village were tearful, they were quick. Everyone understood the need for haste.

The cart was soon on its way, and Winta and the baby sat at the edge of the cart to wave goodbye. Omera and the Mandalorian sat a bit further back. As they lost sight of the village and Winta started to chatter at the baby, Omera reached out to squeeze one of the bounty hunter's hands. He squeezed back and looked over at her. Yes, this would be a difficult path to walk. But they would walk it together.