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Sheltered from the wind by the hull of the Mandalorian’s ship, Rex found himself fascinated by Baby Master Yoda. The child toddled around in the sand babbling like any other infant in the galaxy. Rex may not have had a lot of experience with younglings, but he knew the basics.
Youngling Yoda reached up for him. His little clawed hands opened and closed in a silent plea. Rex remained stiff and unsure. He’d never once seen Master Yoda request so much as a step stool. Rex smelled a trap.
“You can hold him,” Mando offered. The light of their campfire glinted off the shiny beskar helmet.
“I’m no good with kids,” Rex tried to make an excuse.
The Little Yoda whined like he understood the lie.
Mando reached over and scooped up the kid. He cradled the baby to his chest like the most natural thing in the world. Rex tried not to stare. He couldn’t line up his mental image of Master Yoda the fearsome Jedi warrior with the green bean drooling on beskar.
A sound came from Mando’s ship. It sounded like a holo-message. Mando’s back straightened.
“Watch him for a minute,” Mando dumped Master Yoda the Younger at Rex’s feet.
Rex stared down at the liquid eyes looking back at him. Mando marched out of sight.
Rex crouched down to the kid’s level. “Alright, level with me. Are you or aren’t you Master Yoda?”
The baby opened his mouth. Rex’s heart leaped into his throat. The baby sneezed.
Rex dropped his head with a groan.
Not-So-Master-Yoda gurgled and reached up for Rex again. Rex relented. He picked up the child and held him at arm’s length. The baby’s eyes narrowed. Not-Yoda studied Rex just as intently as Rex watched him back.
Rex set the kid down. The fire had died down. Rex grabbed a few more logs and tossed them on the embers. The flames shot back up. Rex warmed his hands.
“That’s better, isn’t it?” He looked around at Mini Master Yoda.
The child wasn’t there.
Rex twisted look around their little campsite. No green ears or big eyes hid under the bedrolls or beside the cooking pans. He didn’t see the kid behind any of the rocks peppering the circle of light.
Panic crept into Rex’s chest. Mando was going to skin him alive. Rex scrambled around the fire. He upturned the cooking pot, lifted the corners of bedrolls, and dug through his pack. No child.
The crunch of Mando’s boots in the sand startled Rex. He looked up at that helmet radiating confusion.
“What are you doing?” Mando asked.
Rex’s spine went rigid.
“I lost the kid,” he blurted out.
Rex expected violence. He expected to be shot on the spot. Or at least to have Mando cuss him out. Instead Mando issued a sigh that rattled through his vocoder. His shoulders dropped with defeat.
“He does that,” Mando said. “He’s probably hunting frogs again.”
Rex blinked.
“Come on,” Mando said. “Start looking.”
Mando marched into the darkness beyond the firelight.
Rex stared after him. Mando was so calm. How was he so calm? His foundling had wandered off into a desert where every living thing was twice the size of the child and doubly dangerous.
Rex hurried to catch up. “You don’t seem worried,” he said.
Mando shrugged. “He has his Jedi sorcery.”
Jedi… sorcery? Holy kriff, he meant the Force. Maker help him, Rex thought.
“Grogu once lifted a whole mudhorn with his powers,” Mando said with a touch of pride in his voice.
A flood of memories crashed over Rex. His Jedi tossing droids aside like ragdolls. Kenobi saving a whole jet from crashing. Ahsoka on that last Republic ship blowing a blast door straight through a squad of clones.
“It’s uncanny sometimes,” Rex said.
Mando tipped his head. “That’s one word for it.”
“It doesn’t seem to phase you,” Rex noted.
Mando didn’t look at Rex. “We’re a clan of two. His powers can’t change that.”
A clan. Family. Rex understood that. He’d do anything for his vod. If Cody or Wolffe had suddenly been able to blow stuff up with their minds Rex wouldn’t have turned his back on them. He’d be freaked right out of his skin, but they’d still be brothers. Not even Order Sixty-Six had changed that.
“Let’s split up,” Mando suggested.
Rex nodded. He peeled to the left of their campfire, heading towards an outcropping of rocks. Not for the last time, he wished for his trooper helmet with the heat tracking device and built-in lamp. Searching for a toddler in the dark seemed impossible. Gradually, Rex’s eyes adjusted. He scanned back and forth, falling into the old habit of scouting patterns. He climbed up a boulder to try and get a better view.
A babbling sound drew Rex’s attention. “Hey, kid? Is that you?” Rex hopped down into the sand. He searched for a telltale green ear or claw.
Black eyes glittered from behind a rock. Rex beckoned the kid to come with him. Not-Yoda peeked out and ducked away again. Rex knew this game. Hide-and-seek.
“Can we play another time?” Rex asked. “Your dad is losing his Mandalorian mind.”
Yoda the Younger snuck another glimpse. His huge eyes narrowed.
Fine. Rex could play along. He let out a loud dramatic sigh. “Where oh, where could that little one have got to? What a mighty Jedi to have hidden so well.” He started to walk away. “I will just have to tell Mando that we’ll need to leave without the child. Oh, his poor Mando heart will break in a thousand pieces.”
A whine and a giggle precipitated the patter of tiny feet. Rex turned around fast. “There you are! Thank the stars!” Rex reached down and scooped up the kid. Once he had the child at eye level Rex suddenly remembered the kid might actually be a centuries old Jedi Master.
Rex cleared his throat. “I won’t speak of this if you won’t.”
Maybe-Yoda blew a raspberry. Rex took it as an oath of silence.
“Alright, let’s go.” Rex trekked back to the Razor Crest. He didn’t see Mando as he approached the fire. The flames had died again. Rex tossed another log on and sat down to wait. He kept Novice-Yoda sitting on his knee. The kid played with the fastenings on Rex’s jacket.
Time wore on. Mando didn’t return. Rex started fidgeting. He threw more wood on the fire twice. Rex watched the darkness, searching for a flash of beskar. He should have come back by now. Baby Master Yoda whimpered.
“You’ve got to be kriffing me,” Rex sighed. “I think your dad is lost, Master Yoda.”
Not-Yoda looked over into the dark in the opposite direction Mando had gone. He cooed and lifted a clawed hand.
Rex squinted into the dark. Something moved out there. Rex reached for his blaster. The figure came closer. It moved at speed. Rex stood and took aim. A gleam caught in the crosshairs. A familiar helmet came into view. Rex relaxed.
Baby Master Yoda whined. Something charged behind Mando. A hulking shape loped on four legs. A roar shook the ground under Rex’s boots. It was almost on top of Mando.
Rex cursed. He lifted the blaster and got off two shots. They bounced off the creature’s hide. Rex’s blood ran cold.
Mando raced into the circle of firelight.
“Move!” Mando shouted.
“Kriff!” Rex grabbed the kid and sprinted for the Razor Crest. The ramp sat open. He just had to make it. Mando darted passed Rex. He had just enough mindfulness to wonder how the man moved so fast in full armour. Rex’s boots hit the metal ramp. Something slammed into his back. Rex tumbled and hit the ground hard. He managed to twist his body to not crush Master Yoda underneath him. A maw like a sarlacc pit opened. The roar rattled Rex’s bones. Rex said a prayer to the Maker. He curled protectively around Master Yoda. If this was the end, he’d die protecting a Jedi like he’d been made to.
Rex squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to watch the teeth descend on him.
Blaster fire exploded over Rex’s head. His ears rang. The creature squealed. Rex looked up. Mando crouched at the top of the ramp with his pulse rifle. He loaded another round with efficient fingers and lined up another shot. Rex ducked.
The blast hit the creature square in the face. It shrieked and blindly swiped a clawed paw. The talons raked down Rex’s leg. He yelled.
The creature twisted and took off into the night. Its tail whipped back and forth and vanished in the dark.
Rex’s exhale sounded harsh in his ears. He flopped on his back on the ramp with Baby Master Yoda on his chest. A giddiness from spent adrenaline pushed a laugh through him.
Mando’s footsteps thudded beside him. “You okay?”
Rex gave him an exhausted thumbs up. Mando reached down and plucked up the child. Not-Yoda whimpered. Mando knelt at Rex’s side.
“You’re hurt.”
Rex craned his neck to look at his leg. His pants were torn from the knee down. Blood spotted the shredded material, but it didn’t look too bad.
“Lucky hit,” Rex croaked. “I’m fine.”
Mando set down the child. He offered Rex a hand. Rex took it. Mando helped pull Rex to his feet. Rex’s head spun. He suddenly found his shoulder leaning against hard armour.
“I have bacta in my medkit,” Mando said.
“Let’s just get off this kriffing planet,” Rex grumbled.