Chapter VI: The Shift

Kreya had almost retrieved her the hilt of her lightsaber when the Child let out a shrill squawk. The sudden grating noise caused both of his caretakers to turn towards him with concern and attentiveness only for the youngling to hold his tiny arms out towards the adults.

Mando glanced down at the Child and then over at Kreya, "He wants to be held."

"Ah," Kreya, simply, acknowledged before she dipped down to hoist the toddler into her arms, "I sense he is getting tired. Infants require a lot of rest as their bodies are rapidly developing or at least that's what I recall."

Mando nodded and then informed her, "The villagers provided a pram for him to sleep in. You could put him there."

The woman offered him a soft smile as she began to rock the Child back and forth in a soothing manner. The Mandalorian turned away from the pair and busied himself by beginning to unpack some of the supplies he'd brought with him from his ship. He wasn't prepared to get too comfortable until he knew exactly what they were up against. He wasn't going to risk his life for people he barely knew.

As Mando kept up his busy work a soft humming sound fell upon his ears in the form of a soft song. Glancing behind him, he realized the sound was coming from Kreya as she swayed to and fro in an effort to convince the Child he needed to rest. A tight feeling gripped Mando's heart as he watched them. There was something powerful about a woman taking up the mantle of caretaker for a youngling in need and Kreya did so with grace and ease. Part of him wondered if such actions were in her nature or if she had previous experiences to draw upon.

Once the Child had finally succumbed to his exhaustion, Kreya set him down in the wooden pram. She stood there observing him sleep for a few moments with a warm smile on her face. It had been many years since she'd seen a being so young sleep so peacefully. It reminded her of the times when she'd sneak into the Crèche where the youngest younglings were kept to sneak glances of the newest members of the Order. She recalled the clinical-like rows of miniature cots filled with a diverse variety of beings. It had been so sterile, so orderly. Nothing like this. This scene was warm and much more natural by comparison.

Sighing, she turned away from the Child to face Mando, "I think I'm going to go find a quiet place to meditate. I need to balance myself."

"Stay close." Was all he managed to say before the woman ghosted out of their quarters.

Several hours of peaceful meditation later, Kreya felt the force beckoning her back towards the village. She could hear the sounds of children forollicking and laughing amongst themselves from her vantage point on the grassy knoll she'd settled upon. Something about this moment drew her towards the noise. A longing, if she dared to call it that. The joyful sounds reminded her of the times between lessons when she and all the other younglings would play.

"Kree! Pass the ball!" Zett exclaimed from across their makeshift pitch.

Kreya's eyes traveled over the open expanse in the garden, noting that there were several opponents between them. Bright smiles lit up everyone's faces. It was a warm, sunny afternoon in Coruscant. For once the sun actually shone through the garden windows where they were playing instead of the smaug that usually suffocated the world outside the Temple.

Several senior members of the Order were watching on from one of the walkways above the garden. No doubt, they were scouting out potential candidates from the ranks of Kreya and her peers. Her group would soon be ready to take part in the ritual known as the Gathering, where they would select their kyber crystals and construct their first real lightsabers. After that it was only a matter of time before available masters began to select apprentices from eligible initiates in their clan.

With a smirk, Kreya decided against passing the ball to the safest option, which happened to be Mila and instead, cranked her arm back as far as she could before she flung it into the air. It was an almighty heave meant to sail the ball across the pitch directly into Zett's hands. The boy, however, had misjudged the amount of force in which she'd thrown the ball and it bounced off his palms and soared upwards.

All the younglings watched as one of the masters stopped the ball with ease. Kreya could feel the amusement rolling off the others at either of the female master's sides, even though she couldn't see them as clearly. But waves of disapproval rolled off the female master, who had stopped the ball, causing the young girl to shrink back within herself. More than anything, Kreya hoped she hadn't just blown her chance of being selected for the upcoming voyage on the Crucible to Illum because she'd failed to restrain herself and chose to show off instead.

The master sent the ball back down to her. But Kreya was hesitant to reclaim it. She didn't wish to make more of a fool out of herself than she already had.

"Go on, young one." The master instructed her, gently, "This time use your head and not your heart."

Nodding, Kreya collected the leather sphere from the air and took a competitive stance. Her peers returned to their previous positions in response to her movements. But instead of attempting to make another big play, she handed the ball off to Jacen, the littlest one of them all, who often didn't get to participate in games with the older trainees due to his smaller size.

As the boy carried on the play, Kreya glanced back up at the masters and caught the nods of approval they sent her way. Unable to stop the grin from forming on her lips, she returned her attention towards her friends and allowed herself to get caught up in the thrill of the game once more.

Back in the present, Kreya's legs carried her over towards the younglings playing within the safety of the village huts. She felt them dashing about with that wild abandon children often exuded. The woman decided to observe from the sidelines just as the masters had done in the temple so many years ago.

Suddenly, she felt a foreign object come soaring through the air towards her head. It didn't take more than a simple gesture of her hand and a swirl in the force to freeze the ball midair just centimeters in front of her face. It was times like these she was thankful for all the blind lightsaber simulation training she'd been forced to undergo as a youngling as the skills she'd developed during those sessions often aided her now that she could no longer use her sight.

"Sorry, ma'am!" One of the boys called out, not taking notice of how the ball floated before the woman.

Another did and exclaimed, "Woah! Jeb, look at what she's doing!"

"How are you doing that?" Inquired another.

A tidal wave of curiosity clashed against Kreya's senses and suddenly, she was surrounded by a dozen or so inquisitive younglings. All of whom were bombarding her with hundreds of questions faster than a mynock minute. The sudden commotion was a little overwhelming for the woman, who'd spent the better part of the past three years living as a hermit. It had been a long time since she'd drawn so much attention all at once.

"Settle down, my young friends," Kreya held out her arms in a calming gesture as she spoke, "One at a time, please. I can't answer any questions if you're all shouting at the same time."

Embarrassment, briefly, bloomed from her eager audience before the tone of the congregation shifted into a more relaxed state. Once the younglings had settled, Kreya pointed out randomly in front of her,

"How about you? What's your name?"

"I'm Caz." Replied the young boy. If Kreya could see, she would have noticed how his shaggy brown hair dangled in front of his eyes. His face was dirty and his clothes stained, but without sight she could tell he was a happy kid.

"Well met, Caz. I'm Kreya." The woman in turn introduced herself to both Caz and the rest of his cohorts and then inquired, "What would you like to ask me, if anything, Caz?"

"Uh-um… How can you do that?" He stammered, slightly when he noticed all his friends' eyes were trained on him, eagerly awaiting what he might ask. It was a lot of pressure for one so young. Especially when he didn't have a lot of experience conversing with outsiders.

Kreya quirked an eyebrow at him, "Do what?"

Caz flushed and irritation spiked his life force signature as he gestured towards the floating ball, "That!"

"Oh, you mean this?" She chuckled and sent the ball flying up into the sky with an easy nudge.

Kreya's actions earn a series of delighted squeals from her young audience. All of them clapped in amazement as they watched the ball float around them. Off to the side, Kreya could hear several adults whispering amongst themselves. The children's noise had more than likely drawn even more of their attention towards her.

"Yes, that!" Caz cried out.

"This," Kreya began as she sent the ball towards the boy and allowed him to take control of the object before she informed the younglings, teasingly, "is a trade secret I'm afraid."

Groans of disappointment echoed around her. The children all pouted up at the blind woman, obviously not pleased with her answer.

"C'mon, Ms Kreya! Tell us! Tell us! Please, please, please!" They pleaded, their voices bleeding together more and more until it was hard to separate out individual speakers.

"Oh, alright. I'll tell you, but you must keep it a secret," She informed them with a cheeky expression, "Can I trust you all to keep it for me?"

"Yes! We can! We can! We promise!" Her young audience chanted.

"Excellent! Now, lean in closer everyone." She ordered, gesturing for the younglings to do as she bid. A dozen tiny presences in the force clambered closer before she whispered, "It's magic!"

"Magic?" One of the older children scoffed, "There's no such thing as magic!"

"Well, how do you know for sure if there's magic or not? You're alive, aren't you?"

"What's that got to do with magic?" A different voice demanded.

Kreya sighed, "Every morning we wake up is a miracle no matter how old one is. We are not guaranteed more than the present. Every day we live and every breath we breathe is a gift. Is that not magic enough?"

The children began to converse amongst themselves. Some appeared to be in agreement with what the woman had said, others still weren't convinced.

"That not magic!" The same boy from earlier complained.

"Why not?" Kreya pushed, mostly because she wanted to see if he was capable of providing her with a concrete case against the existence of this 'magic' they were arguing over.

Of course, she knew he wouldn't be able to. He was a child of no more than thirteen, who had never been off planet before to know of anything about life beyond his village. Anything that challenged his world view would more than likely be dismissed. Especially since his parents had grown up in the Empire.

"Because- cause there's not!" Was all the reason he could provide.

Several of the other children changed their positions on the matter as they, too, had realized they'd never encountered any 'magic' before on Sorgan. Or at least they had changed their minds until a soft voice broke through the buzz of the crowd.

"Well, I believe in magic!"

Kreya smiled when she recognized who the small voice belonged to. It was Winta, the little girl from earlier. The young girl believed her. Could it be she was a touch force-sensitive? The possibility was certainly plausible. She did gravitate to the Child, Kreya observed, noticing how the Child seemed to be glued to his new friend as they stood apart from the others.

Some of the older children didn't take too kindly to Winta's declaration and turned on the girl, "What was that?"

To Kreya's surprise, there was no sign of the shy girl she'd encountered earlier. Winta didn't back down under the pressure of her peers as she repeated, "I said, 'I believe in magic!'"

The children all laughed and ran off with their ball. Winta hung her head in disappointment. Kreya frowned at this and made her way over towards the girl and the Child. They stood side by side for a few moments as Kreya pondered how to address Winta's bravery.

"You did very well, little one." Kreya, eventually, decided as she found herself echoing the sentiment many masters had offered as praise to her during her training.

"N-no, I-I d-didn't," Winta hiccuped, her voice sounding as if she was on the verge of tears, "They all laughed at me."

"Sure, they laughed. Most people tend to make fun of things they don't understand." Kreya informed the girl, tilting her head slightly when she felt something tugging on her cloak. Crouching down, she allowed the Child to step into her arms, but she didn't rise immediately once he was in her grasp. Instead, she laid a calm hand upon Winta's shoulder and said, "Never give up on what you believe in."

Winta offered Kreya a watery smile and threw her thin arms around the woman's shoulders. Her actions caught Kreya off guard and caused her body to freeze. It had been many years since another being had embraced her in such a genuine way. It caused something to shift within the woman's heart. How long had she craved such warmth? After years of being raised to repress her emotions and focus only the peace within the unifying force, it felt like her cold heart was beginning to thaw just from this one innocent gesture.

After a few moments, Kreya returned the girl's embrace. Taking care that she didn't crush the Child, who had perched himself on her knee between them. Kreya remained like this until Winta decided to pull away, wanting the girl to choose when to end it. More than anything she was afraid of setting a poor example for the Child. She wished for him to experience emotion instead of being afraid of it like she was.

"Thanks, Ms. Kreya." Winta whispered, drying her eyes with the sleeve of her tunic.

"Anytime, Winta." Kreya smiled down at the girl before nudging the Child towards his new friend, "Why don't you take him and play some more? I'm sure he'd really like it if you showed him around. We've been traveling for a long time. It'd be good for him to stretch his legs."

"Okay!" A brilliant smile bloomed on Winta's face before she scooped up the Child and dashed off to do who knows what. The Child's delighted squeal as all Kreya needed to know it was the right call to make. She couldn't deny the surge of warmth that burst within her chest once more.

Kreya remained there until she noticed the presence of an older woman, moving to claim the spot Winta had just occupied. Straightening, she rose and acknowledged the presence beside her.

"You're very gifted with children." The woman pointed out before adding, "My name is Omera, by the way."

"Kreya," The younger of the two nodded as she fought the faint flush that colored her cheeks in response to Omera's words, "Thank you. It's been a long since I've interacted with younglings. I probably wasn't more than a youngling myself."

"The Empire, drastically, altered many lives. But now that it's gone, we are free to move forward." Omera's words wisdom struck a chord with Kreya. Such wisdom she had only encountered from members of the high council, not that she'd gotten the opportunity to interact with many of them.

All this time she thought she'd moved on from what had happened, but all she'd really done was run from her past. It was time to move forward and to take a step in a new direction.

"Omera?" Kreya inquired, turning towards the older woman when a thought suddenly occurred to her, "Would you mind if I asked you some questions about how-" But she could find the words to voice what she wanted to say.

"To be a mother?" Omera offered, easily as if she knew what Kreya was searching for even if the younger woman didn't.

Kreya nodded, "I know I'm not the Child's mother, but..."

Caretaker, yes. Teacher, eventually. But he doesn't really need either of those things right now. The word 'mother' wasn't a word she used often. She'd never known maternal love growing up in the temple. The closest she'd ever come had been… Well, she wasn't exactly ready to face those nightmares just yet. How could she be a mother for the youngling when she'd never experienced it herself?

"But you are already doing it so well. You just need to open yourself up a little more and perhaps, some proper instruction might help." Omera informed Kreya with a warm smile. Although Kreya could not see it she could feel the woman's warmth in the force.

The joyful afternoon came to a stormy end when Mando and Cara returned from their scouting excursion. They carried with them a sense of doom and anger Kreya hadn't felt since the Empire had been destroyed.

Brows pinched, Kreya followed the villagers as they gathered in front of the barn to hear what the warriors had to say. She lingered off to the side, outside everyone's direction attention. She could sense a few familiar presences in the crowd. Omera stood towards the front. Winta and the Child tucked, firmly beside her. Caben was there also, as was Stoke.

"Bad news. You can't live here anymore." Mando informed the group, gruffly. If Kreya wasn't a force-user, she would've still been able to sense his irritation and anger that swirled in his aura.

Confused rumblings came from the villagers as this announcement had no doubt blindsided them. Kreya also frowned over at her companion as she wondered what they'd discovered to cause them to jump to this conclusion.

"I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but there are no other options," Cara spoke up, stepping towards the crowd.

"You took the job!" Stoke was quick to remind them, earning a chorus of agreement from his fellows.

"That was before we knew about the AT-ST." Cara snapped, her voice accusatory as she glared down at the throng.

Kreya felt her own surprise skyrocket. Mercenaries alone wouldn't have caused Mando and Cara much trouble. But an AT-ST, that was another barrel of sithspit enitrely. Tilting her head towards Caben and Stoke, she noticed a burst of panic coming from them. That must have been what the pair had been hiding from them when Kreya had confronted them during their journey to the village.

"What is that?" Caben inquired in an attempt to play dumb.

"The armored walker with two enormous guns that you knew about and didn't tell us." Cara accused, eyes narrowed and body tense as if she were ready for a brawl.

Several women in the crowd began to cry out for the warriors to help them. Their desperation stirred up memories Kreya often wished to avoid. But it awakened a feeling of determination that went against her typical pacifistic attitude. Unconsciously, her hands grasped at the leather string around her neck and tugged out the citrine colored crystal that dangled from the end of the necklace. The kyber crystal glittered, illuminating her palm in the late afternoon sun as she grasped it. Kreya felt the crowd's desperation begin to shift towards hope as they began to realize they had numbers on their side.

"We can learn!" "Give us a chance!" "Please!"

Their words were more than enough for Kreya. Unnoticed she slipped into the barn to retrieve the one thing that might possibly help shift the advantage in the village's favor.

"I've seen that thing take down companies of soldiers in a matter of minutes." She heard Cara snarl in response from outside. Yet, Mando hadn't said anything since he'd first unloaded the news to the villagers.

Kreya began to rummage through her things until her hand grasped the cool hilt of her saber. Pulling it out, she allowed the force to sweep it up into the air as the villagers and Cara continued to argue. Shaking her head, Kreya banished all outside thoughts from her mind as she focused on deconstructing the outer casing of the metal baton. Piece by piece, parts and pins began to float around her until she revealed the empty crystal casing within the heart of the weapon.

Without a second thought, she untied the yellow crystal from her necklace and allowed it to float towards its casing and the force guided it until it fit snugly in place. Reconstructing her lightsaber was much simpler than building it the first time. She recalled her voyage back to Coruscant on the Crucible and how fulfilling it had been to finally have her own lightsaber. Rebuilding it now allowed a sense of rightness to return to her mind. There had been many times she'd been tempted to wield it, but none of those times felt right as this. Helping the villagers in this way was the right thing for her to do. She knew this because the force echoed its approval all around her.

Once her lightsaber was complete, Kreya readied herself to exit the barn and offer her service to the villagers if they would take accept her. Just outside she could hear them still arguing with Cara.

"We are not leaving." Omera informed the ex-shocktrooper with a sternness only a mother could possess.

"You cannot fight that thing." Cara emphasized once more.

Kreya took this moment to make her stand as she pushed through the curtain that acted as a door for the barn, "Yes, they can."

All eyes turned to Kreya as she stood before the crowd, gripping the shiny cylinder in her right hand. She knew many of them probably wouldn't have thought she'd voice any opinion on the matter as she appeared less likely to help in any useful way. But she wouldn't let their doubts sway her from her decision.

"What can you do about it, Curly?" Cara stalked back over towards her and pointed a finger in her direction, "Besides your 'party tricks.'"

"This." Was all Kreya said as she flipped the ignition switch on the hilt of her saber causing the yellow laser beam to burst into existence like a solar fire. It's amber light cast a warm glow on her skin not unlike the sunset on the treetops surrounding them.

Startled gasps echoed through the crowd as they took in the foreign sight that was Kreya's lightsaber. Most had no idea what they were looking at but all could tell it was dangerous.

With a steadying breath, Kreya addressed the crowd, "I was raised in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in the waning days of the Old Republic. I know that means nothing to any of you, but the Jedi promised to maintain peace and balance in the galaxy as part of our mandate. Although they no longer exist in this form today, I extend the same offer to you."

The crowd murmured amongst themselves as they debated whether or not they should take this strange woman up on her offer. Many of them probably thought she was crazy. Others had possibly heard the legends that had begun to circulate the galaxy after the Battle of Endor.

Cara scoffed, folding her arms over her chest, "That still only makes three of us. The odds aren't in our favor."

"Not if we show them how." Mando cut in, having observed the scene in silence after Cara had critiqued his 'bedside manner.' Something had shifted within him in response to the villager's determination and Kreya's actions.

His words seemed to settle the matter as Cara let out one last irritated huff and stormed off. But he barely noticed her departure the only thing he could focus on was the literal beacon of light that was Kreya.

Author's Note: Hello, everyone! I'd like to thank you once again for taking the time to read my Mandalorian fic! I really appreciate every view, follow, and favorite you guys have given this story! I'd love to hear what you guys think of it so far. But any support makes my day!

The next couple of weeks are going to be extremely busy for me, so I might not be able to update again until my spring break. But we'll see what happens between now and then.

Also would anyone be interested if I wrote a Clone Wars fic after I complete the first season of the Mandalorian? I've gotten back into watching it and I'm kind of addicted.