#and when surrounded by a whole clan of them he slowly develops a yearning to be with them

[riverxsong-ao3]

May or may not have just given Harry a minor creature inheritance in Vitae Redux

[catsnkooks]

Safe, Secure, and Warm

summary: you were told vicious bounty hunters lived in the desert beyond your city, but you would quickly find out not all stories are true

pairing: clan leader!Paz Vizla x reader

warnings: mentions of space slavery, pregnancy, just fluff really

word count: 2.5k

a/n: hello again!! me and @lesqui​ have constant yearning hours for @magichandthing​‘s clan leader!mandos concept so have a clan leader!Paz Vizla fic. i’m also trying to drown the hurt of the clone wars season finale in fluff but that just means i’m free to write angst now :’)

here it is on ao3!!

---

You awoke to a heavy pressure draped across your waist and soft breaths ticking your ear. You blinked your eyes, stifling a yawn, ad scooted closer to the warmth of the chest against your back. Your small hand wrapped around the fingers of the much larger one that rested against your stomach. You smiled into your pillow.

You felt safe, secure, and warm, exactly the opposite of the way you felt when Paz Vizla and his clan first found you.

A year ago now, you ran away from home, or, really, the place you’d lived and called “home” your entire life. Born in slavery to a household that served the Hutts, you hadn’t known much else than the dusty walls of your masters’ house. As you grew older and the harsh environment wore down on you, you plotted your escape. Your masters hosted a party for other powerful families allied with the Hutts, and it was a perfect night for an escape, after everyone went to bed, drunk off the alcohol you served them while they talked about you and the other slaves. Your heart beat angrily in your chest as you listened to what they wanted to do to you and you listened to the clinking of credits being exchanged, your whole life boiled down to a few meager credits.

You slipped out in the dead of the night, with only your one set of clothes and a small bag with your meager possessions. Warnings from everyone rang in your ears about the wilderness beyond the house, about the dangerous hunters that supposedly lived out there. But at this point, you didn’t care. They couldn’t be worse than what awaited you back in your masters’ hands.

You walked until your feet felt numb and collapsed behind a small rocky outcrop, shivering as icy cold winds swept across the desert. You clutched your pack to your chest. Your eyelids drooped closed as the cold settled into your bones. You had hoped you could have a life outside of slavery, outside of everything you knew, but if you were to die out here in the cold desert, then so be it. At least you were free.

Just as you were about to fall asleep, you heard something out in the desert. You heard the sound of rockets roaring then ceasing, hasty footsteps approaching you, then a shout in a language you couldn’t understand. You blinked your eyes open slowly, focusing on a large man that was now crouching in front of you. The moonlight barely shined off his dull blue armor, but it glinted off the shiny black T of his visor and the two white horns attached to his helmet. You whimpered and tried to turn away from his gloved hand as he reached out to you.

“Shh, mesh’la,” he whispered, his voice distorted from behind his helmet. He turned and accepted a cloak from someone behind him, turning back to drape it around your shivering frame. “Everything will be over soon.”

He picked you up, tucking the cloak further around you, and his jetpack roared to life. You felt dwarfed in his embrace as he effortlessly carried you in the air over miles of desert. You rested your weary head against his shoulder and fell asleep.

The next thing you knew, you woke up on a small cot, a mountain of blankets smothering you. You kicked them off of your sweating body and leaned up so you were sitting on the cot.

“How do you feel, mesh’la?” asked a voice beside you, startling you.

You turned to find the man that rescued you sitting beside you. Although he had taken his chest plate and shirt off, you could tell it was him from the dull blue helmet that rested on his knee. Looking at him more closely, everything about him made you flush with something you couldn’t describe. Your eyes first went to the mess of dark curly hair framing his face, then traced down his strong jawline to the beads that rested along his collarbones. You had never really had the chance to inspect a shirtless man before, and your eyes quickly glanced over the toned, and rather large, muscles of his chest and stomach. You felt your face flush with heat and you looked up to stare at his face. If he noticed your flushed face, he didn’t mention it, opting to give you a concerned look.

“I feel—I feel fine,” you stuttered out, looking down to smooth out your worn dress. You looked back up and examined your surroundings beyond the man sitting in front of you. “Where…where am I?”

You quickly learned the man’s name was Paz Vizla and he was the leader of the clan whose medical building you were currently sitting in. They called themselves Mandalorians. He had already guessed you were from the city and guessing from the slight sneer that curled his lips up ever so slightly, you guessed he had met your masters at some point. It would probably take you a week to recover from your escape, but you were safe here and could stay as long as you liked.

Your stay turned from a week to a month, and then one month turned into two, and then those months quickly turned into a year. After your week of recovery, you moved in with a woman Mandalorian named Rale Jarrde and her young son, Sesro. You had come to appreciate, and even love, the people who took you in, these Mandalorians, and you quickly realized the stories you were told as a girl by your masters were not true. Sure, they did the odd bounty-hunting job, but they would do anything for people in need, like you.

Paz had also taken a liking to you. He visited you every day while you were in the medical building, but less when you moved out, despite how ecstatic Sesro was whenever he visited. He, along with Rale, began teaching you about his clan, and you were an eager student. You learned why he dressed the way he did, some of their customs, and slowly learned their language, Mando’a. It was only when he’d used that unfamiliar word—mesh’la—with you again that you started to question your relationship with him.

He had come back from meeting with other clan alore and you had stopped to wave at him as you were taking a basket of woolen clothes you had fixed for the armorer of the clan. He waved back, removing his helmet so you could see the wide smile that broke across his face.

“I missed you, mesh’la,” Paz had said.

You smiled at his words, but tilted your head in curiosity. “Mesh’la,” you tested against your learning tongue. “What does that mean?”

Paz chuckled and lifted a gloved hand to your chin, lifting it so you looked him in his eyes. His thumb grazed your bottom lip slightly. You felt your face flush red again like that first time you saw him in that med bay many months ago.

“It means beautiful,” he had said. He chucked you under the chin once more then turned around to leave for his dwelling, leaving you flustered and wondering in the middle of the compound.

After that, you had no trouble defining the relationship, especially since Paz seemed very eager to deepen it. When he wasn’t away or busy with alor business, he was with you, watching you sew clothes, helping you cook, and playing with Sesro and the other two foundlings the clan had taken in since you had arrived. His second-in-commands knew you by name and began to tell you where he was whenever you came looking for him. Rale would give you amused looks if you returned late from his dwelling, but instead of being embarrassed, you would laugh breathlessly and tell her the newest developments of your relationship.

One evening after dinner, you and Paz sneaked out of the compound to his favorite spot in the little oasis of the desert where the clan lived. It was a hidden spring, and you sat down on one of the smooth rocks that lined the pool the spring fed into, lifting the hem of your dress so you didn’t get it wet. You took off your shoes and dipped you toes in the cool water, leaning back and smiling at Paz, who had sat down beside you, tugging off his boots and setting them beside his helmet in the wet sand beside him. He set his feet in the water and positioned his arm behind you.

You sighed and leaned against his arm, settling your head into the crook of his shoulder. The warmth from the naked skin of his arms and chest contrasted with the cool water of the spring. “It’s very nice here.” It was quiet, but you could still hear the faint buzz of conversation and laughter from the compound.

Paz hummed. His arm that you were resting on wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer so your thighs touched his and so his hand could draw lazy patterns on your thigh. You felt your face flush, this time not with embarrassment, but with the sweet warmth that burst in your chest every time you were with Paz.

“Why did you bring me here?” you asked, breaking the comfortable silence between the both of you.

Paz clasped your hand in his larger one, his thumb pressing gently into your palm. “I wanted to ask you something.”

You looked up at him, full of curiosity. “What is it?”

Paz avoided your gaze, instead watching his thumb caress your palm. He let out a breathy chuckle. “You know, I’ve faced almost a thousand warriors in battle, but I feel most nervous when I'm with you.” He finally looked you in your eyes and gave you a wry smile. “I'm not the best at this.”

You smiled back at him. “I don’t mind,” you said, reaching your free hand up to touch his cheek. “Ask away, I don’t bite.”

“Do you know what a riduurok is?” he asked.

You nodded slightly, tilting your head. You remember Rale mentioning something about it, hers with her husband a long time ago. Your felt your face flush at the implication. “Why?”

“I want to do that with you,” he said. Your mouth fell open but he continued on before you could say anything. “I—I can't stop thinking about you. I feel like I think about you all the time. I can't help thinking about how when you smile I can see it in your eyes and how beautiful that makes you. And I can't stop thinking of how I want to see you smile always. And then there’s this tight feeling in my chest and I can't make it go away, and—.”

“Paz!” you exclaimed, laughing and pressing a finger to his lips. You cradled his face in both of your hands and you looked into his eyes, full of worry and pleading. “It’s alright. I feel the same way.”

You had to bite your lip to keep yourself from laughing at the way his eyes lit up with happiness. “Really?” His arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you into his lap. “I was so nervous that you didn’t.”

“Of course I do,” you whispered, smiling up at him. “I knew from the moment you found me out in the desert.”

Paz breathed a sigh of relief, letting out all of the tension in his body. He pressed his forehead to yours, his breath fanning across your face. “I love you, ner mesh’la.” He pulled you in closer and pressed his lips to yours in a sweet, lingering kiss. You smiled against his lips as his words rang through your head.

I love you, ner mesh’la.

---

Now you found yourself laying in bed with him, sunlight slowly filtering through the window. You giggled as Paz wrapped his arms tighter around you, pulling you flush against his chest and burying his nose in your neck. You giggled again and carefully twisted around so you were facing him.

You smiled and kissed his nose as his eyes fluttered open. “Good morning, my leader.”

Paz smiled back at you, leaning up to press a soft kiss to your lips. “Good morning, ner mesh’la.” His voice was more husky than usual, filled with early morning sleepiness. He pressed his face into your chest, stifling a yawn. “Why are you up so early? Go back to sleep.”

You laughed and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Don’t go back to sleep. I need to tell you something.”

He groaned, but lifted himself from your chest and leaned against one arm, his other pulling you closer and drawing circles along your lower back. He smiled at you with sleepy eyes. “What is it, ner mesh’la?”

You had been so excited to tell him, but now that he was looking at you, you felt nervous. You placed a hand over your stomach. “Promise me you won’t freak out?”

Paz huffed and rolled his eyes. “Mesh’la, after what happened yesterday, nothing could faze me.”

You smiled and reached up to place a kiss to his nose. He had all but fallen into your arms the moment he got back from negotiations last night, exhausted.

“Okay, okay,” you giggled as he leaned down to nuzzle against your cheek. You took a deep breath and let it out slowly, caressing the hair at the nape of his neck in a poor effort to rid yourself of your nervousness. “I…I'm pregnant.”

His brow furrowed against your cheek and he stayed like that for a moment before lifting up to rest his head against one hand. His eyes were full of bewilderment. “What?”

You bit your lip and nodded. “I'm only a couple of months along I think. I wasn’t sure when to tell you, but I wanted to tell you earlier, but you were gone, and—.”

Paz interrupted your nervous chatter by sealing his lips on yours. You closed your eyes and pressed your hands to his chest, leaning into him. It was only until he began to press you down into the bed, still keeping his lips on yours, that you tried to pull away.

“Mmff—Paz!” you said, giggling and pulling away from him. He captured your face in his hands and continued to kiss your cheeks and eyelids.

“I'm sorry, mesh’la, I just….” He paused to place a quick kiss on the tip of your nose, then leaned back to look in your eyes. “Are you sure?”

You placed a hand on his cheek and smiled up at him. “Of course, ner riduur.”

You watched his eyes soften and he placed another lasting kiss on your lips before tucking you against him.

“I don’t know what I would do without you, ner mesh’la,” he murmured, placing his large hand against your stomach. “You complete me in every way.”

You smiled against his shoulder, snuggling deeper into his embrace. You placed a hand over his resting against your stomach. You were happy here, resting in Paz’s arms. And you were happy knowing that your child would be raised like this. Safe, secure, and warm.