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everyhowlmarksthedead · 3 years

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Now and forevermore.

DIN DJARIN. ┃ THE MANDALORIAN.

❝ words: about 2.6k

❝ warnings: nsfw, oral sex, unprotected sex, mention of bodily fluids, (spoilers of season 2 finale), softie din and fuck the canon, we love the Razor Crest.

❝ a / n: this work wasn’t supposed to be this long, but well… As always, feedback is appreciated!

Gif credits to the author.

MASTERLIST. ⎢ MULTIFANDOM TAG LIST.

When you found the Razor Crest at the spaceport this morning, you felt some tickles within your belly inevitably. You met Mando about a year ago in your first shift working for Peli in Tatooine and you could consider him as a friend since then. You have hadn't many talks, but he has spent more time watching you fix some parts of his ship than you can count; even, sometimes, he has brought you some presents from other planets from the Galaxy. Always followed by that little green creature, who usually ends up stealing your cookies. So you have been waiting for them the whole day until the night has fallen over the city.

After getting rid of all the excuses to stay a little more at the workshop, you have to leave to not arouse suspicion, much to your regret. And yet, you make a detour instead of taking the short way back to your home as every day. Walking slowly, eyes traveling all around. But nothing. The tightness in your chest grows as you reach your place, letting out a sigh whilst opening the gate to come in.

The lights switch-on as you walk through the small stoned hallway to the living room, stopping half-way when you notice a strange smoky smell. It doesn't disgust you, but it's not a scent you have smelled before in your house. On a defense posture, you grab the knife from the holster around your right thigh raising it to your eye level. Quietly, you stick your head out through the arched door to the kitchen. Hearing soft snoring coming from the living room, you try to keep calm, securing your fingers around the knife handle somewhat better. Following the noise, step by step, you can glimpse a man lying on the sofa in the middle of the gloom.

A forearm covers his eyes, but you're sure he is sleeping. It's unbelievable that someone breaks into your house to steal and he decides to take a nap. Narrowing your eyes to try to sharpen your vision looking for some weapons, you're almost on him. There's anything that could be a threat to your life, acting quickly to press the edged blade against his neck. The man snaps his eyes open. Two brown orbs that don't show surprise, nor fear. But relief in a fleeting sparkle that wrings your heart.

“If you move, I'll slit your throat”. You hiss nailing a knee on the edge of the sofa. “Who are you?”

He doesn't articulate a word. His face talks for him. As you study his thin lips, traveling your gaze slowly to the convex bridge of his nose, the pressure against his neck by your knife loosens. You are starting to feel as if you had seen this man before, but you don't remember his face, nor his clothes. Licking your teeth as your eyes fall on his, your left-hand lands on his chest.

“Man— Mando?” You ask disconcerted.

His fingers tour your forearm in slow motion to reach the handle of your knife, still close to his throat. He removes it from your hand to throw it somewhere on the floor causing a metallic noise, while his digits continue to your shoulder up to the back of your neck. You are not going to ask why he isn't wearing his helmet or his beskar. You are not going to ask about the little creature. You have heard stories, rumors about a Jedi and the Force.

He makes your lips crash before you can even assimilate his presence in your house, closing your fingers in a fist grabbing the fabric of his shirt among them. You're not disgusted, discovering so many emotions in the way his mouth devours yours. Fury and rage, loneliness and anguish. But hope and love. You can't help but gasp breathlessly when you need to break the kiss for an instant, not being able to open your eyes. You pepper his nose with sweet light touches, finally pressing your lips on his forehead. Just what he needed.

“I am sorry…”

“So am I”. He murmurs sinking his face into your neck, wrapping his arms around your middle-back.

“How can I help you? What can I do for you?” As your voice becomes lower, your tone turns more soothing.

“Could you…?” Feeling the hesitation through his throat, you cup his warm cheeks into your palms to force him to look at you under the gloom. “Could you love me like I do?”

You'd be lying if you say that that question has taken you by surprise. You know a lot about Mandalorians and, definitely, they don't act normally like acts with you. Without taking into account that he'd go anywhere, but he is there, urging you to sit on top of him a second before capturing his lips with yours. His hands start a slow dance down by your backbone, separating themselves to roll your shirt up over your head and toss it somewhere. Your mouths get clung to each other, as soon as he does the same with his, starting to feel anxious for feeling him skin against skin.

Securing your arms around his neck, Mando stands up from the sofa urging you to keep your legs wrapping his waist. Your lungs learn to breathe in sync before you reach your bed, not questioning how he knows where it is. You're too busy tasting his tongue playing with yours, tangling your fingers on his scalp —until you're interrupted when he stumbles, falling over the mattress. You giggle. So does he. And you can swear you haven't heard anything more wonderful in your short life. You could spend your time just hearing him laugh, not worried about if the whole space wants to fall apart.

With him settling himself better between your legs, the heat increases the temperature of your body, biting your bottom lip when Mando trails a path of wet kisses down your clavicle, leaving a soft bite in one of your breasts to steal you a needed moan. You don't know about how relationships work for the Mandalorians, but he knows exactly what to do to put you to beg for his touches. His opened-mouth kisses get concentrated all over your belly, while his hands make their way to unbutton your pants after looking at you to ask you for permission in silence. And you don't have to answer. You want him as much as he wants you. Heel against heel, you remove your boots to make it easy for him to pull down the rough piece of clothing.

Thereupon, Mando gets up from your bed to strip himself from the clothes still covering him. You haven't been with many men, but you can assure that he's the most perfect man ever. As he kneels over the mattress, he leans down to get rid of the thin fabric that covers his most desired treasure. Exposed to him, feeling the same sensation of trusting and loyalty mixed dancing all around your dorm, he lies down between your legs to place them over his shoulders. Spreading sweet short kisses on your inner thighs, weaving from one to the other, until reaching your warm core. As his left-hand stays on your pelvis to pin you to the bed, his two longer digits make their way to your lips. And you welcome them to suck both wet. His brown eyes are enraptured on how you lick and taste them, using them to please you when he knows you're ready.

Curving his digits and sliding them slowly into your soaked cunt, his mouth goes straight to your most sensitive spot. Mando plays with your clit using the tip of his tongue, swirling it masterfully, as his fingers drive you insane with a back and forth dance constantly. Soon, your moans fill the stance, feeling sparkles within your stomach when the pace speeds up. His fingers pound you faster, as he becomes more and more addicted to the pleasing vocals that escape your throat uncontrollably, whilst his lips suck and put some more pressure on your swollen pearl. For him, you taste better than water after a week wandering in the desert. Better than any food he has ever tried.

You can't help but tangle your hands on his smooth curls, trying to push him away the moment you feel you could fall to the edge. You desire him more than anything in this universe and you don't want to be the only one experimenting with such a pleasure. Mando raises his head. His lips shining impregnated in your delicious juices, as he licks them more than delighted, watching you breathless barely moving.

“Tell me what you want”. He hums with a husky tone of voice that could be your perdition, bringing back his mouth to your skin, trailing a path of kisses up through your abdomen.

“I want you”. You beg in an erratic whisper, placing your legs around his waist as he comes closer to lie on top of you. “I want you, Mando, now and forevermore”.

He flashes a smile at you, putting away his huge and anxious hands from your thighs. His left travel among your bodies, whilst the right lands on your throat to hold it tightly. You can feel his hardness dangerously coming to your center, as he urges you to tilt your head to a side so he can peck your jaw with sloppy kisses till reaching your ear.

“I want you to call me Din”. He murmurs causing you to gasp and nod with your chin.

And he doesn't give you time to respond, when —with a sharp blow— he buries deep inside you all his length. You howl his real name from the most recondite place of your guts, feeling fully filled. He's big. More than you could expect. And Din is extremely impatient for marking his territory in your body, for making you his, for showing you all the love and the adoration he has been dealing with since the very first moment he laid his charming brown eyes on you.

“Gar cuyir mesh'la”. Mando repeats once and again into your ear, as he waits for you to adjust to him. The last thing he wants is to hurt you, to feel uncomfortable.

You don't talk Mando'a, but you have heard some words here and there, so you understand what he is uttering with a sweet raspy voice as your nails continue scratching his back; studying every scar that covers his skin, wanting to memorize them, wanting to comfort him somehow. Placing your right on the back of his neck, you look for his lips feeling thirsty for his saliva again and making him know you're more than ready for him.

His free arm surrounds your waist, as his digits continue tangled to your throat, before starting to swing his hips. Din pulls his hard cock almost out of your wetness, just to thrust your body again. He has the imperious urgency for hearing you moaning his name, and you do. You do without the necessity of being asked for, while he digs himself among your legs once and once. At first, both wanted to take your time, enjoy every touch, every kiss (...), but the two of you know it isn't going to be possible as you feel the electrified pleasure running through your bodies like never before. No one —not in this planet, not in the whole Galaxy, nowhere— could make you feel this good.

“Din… Din… Oh, Din!” You cry out digging your fingertips in his skin.

He shoves his full hard length to your soul not showing any mercy to your body, sinking his nose in your skin to bite it, pull it back and suck it strongly. Mando has been craving you for months now, not being able to control his impulses, grunting in the almost forgotten language against your neck. The sparkles within your belly are turning into fireworks, as both can barely breathe submerged in a bubble of heat and satisfaction you can't explain.

Somehow, Din maneuvers your bodies to put you on top of him without breaking the connection. You place your hands on his warm chest, as his hands go to your hips to urge to bounce on him. He's trying to breathe through his parted lips, keeping eye contact, while uttering your name between wrecked roars. And you can't help but swing your body over his, arching your back to find more pleasure every time his twitching dick is dug into your wetness. Not knowing how much you can take without succumbing to the fire growing inside you, your dance skyrocketed.

“That's it, cyar'ika…” Din growls, nailing his fingers in your hips a little tightly, closing his eyelids strongly, focusing on every move you do. “For all the stars… you're going to kill me… You take me so good…”

You can't even form a sentence with sense, leaning down to catch his lips with yours. He devours your mouth eager and hungry of you, tangling a hand on your hair to push you closer as he rocks his body in perfect harmony. Pearls of sweat start to appear on your foreheads, around your necks; the heat continues increasing by leaps and bounds, feeling your cunt clenching around his most sensitive skin almost suffocating him.

“I'm… I'm gon— Oh, Din… please”. You whimper while he nibbles your bottom lip, feeling the same shivers down his chest to concentrate on his lower abdomen.

“I got you, cyar'ika… I got you”. He simply murmurs brushing your lips with his.

With his arms wrapping your body, turning you back down, his thrusts become violent. Mando hits your anatomy ruthless and impatient for making you reach the longed-for orgasm, overstimulating your g-spot as much as he can. In a second, he suddenly steals the air of your lungs. He causes your legs to tremble, as you cry out his name surrendering your soul and body to the purest ecstasy you have ever experienced. Saying that he is satisfied with watching you stirring over the sheets would be insufficient.

Din lies on top of you, not stopping his rough lungs to your cunt, reaching your ear too easily. “I'm going to… make you feel even better”.

That isn't a promise. Is a fact.

He doesn't need much more to demonstrate it to you, spilling his seed inside your guts. Din presses his dick to your limits as strongly as he can, pinning you to the mattress with a wreck howl stuck on his throat feeling your fire burning him down. Reaching perfection. Feeling alive for the first time in too many years. Although he collapses over you, he doesn't lose the hold applied inside you. He needs to be right there for a little more. Connected to you.

While you try to come back to reality, he spreads gentle and exhausted kisses all over your collarbone and over every hickey drawn on your neck.

“Din…” You call him out of energy.

“Uh-huh?”

“How do you say I love you?”

He remains in silence for a second, trying to figure out why you want to know it, even if it is pretty obvious.

Tilting his head enough to lay his eyes on yours, he caresses the tip of your nose with his. “Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum”.

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum”. You reply then, doing your best to imitate the strange accent, causing him to chuckle.

“You need to practice”.

“Will you teach me?”

Hearing that question, knowing what you really want to mean, Din pulls his semi-hard cock from you making you moan somewhat low. As he lies on the side, he doesn't lose time cuddling you between his arms in holy silence. He doesn't need to reply, you know the answer.

From now and forevermore he is yours and you are his.

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandolorian fanart #the mandolorian season 2 #mando x you #mando x reader #the mandolarian #din djarin imagine #din djarin #din djarin x you #din djarin x reader #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x y/n

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newswcanonprompts · 4 years

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prompt #29 - Jango Fett custody battle for the clones turns into Jango (and the mandalorians) marrying the Jedi

Jango wanted a son. Only one- but then the sith got and used his dna samples to make a clone army

Jango was out for a couple days as the sith did this (carbonite, kidnapping, etc)

Then the jedi arrive on kamino, and free jango and the clones

Some of the clones want to be with the jedi but jango is like “my children”

But plo and shaak want clone children, because they are jedi space parents

Custody battle/total chaos ensues

The clones don’t know who to choose, they love them both

The clone wars is just a giant custody battle for the GAR

here’s the breakdown: sudden father of clones vs the jedi, vs the clones who want the jedi, vs the clones who want jango, it’s a BIG court case

And we didn’t discuss this in the server BUT you can bet the holonet is freaking out over it, and everyone is taking sides (it’s like star wars judge judy mixed with KUWTK, mixed with any other dramatic reality tv show, much drama)

Mr sheev palpatine is very pissed™, since he wanted the clones to be his secret weapon but now they’re just the children of the jedi?? What is happening to his perfect sithly plan?? Now they’re going to find the control chips!!

What ends up happening is the jedi and jango become the divorced parents who low key hate each other.

They get split time with the clones - like every other week they switch or something like that.

But then. Oh but then. Jango, who is a mandalorian (mandalorians are weak for hot people who can fight) sees the jedi fighting. He is gone.

Jango.exe has stopped working. The clones are like “um, buir? Are you okay?” he can’t even answer.

Since when can jedi do that (he saw them doing ataru and that was what pushed him over the edge)

The clones are like “dad”. Jango just… *squeak*. The clones, realizing what’s happening - “Oh he’s seen Master Mom-Ti”. *higher squeak*. Jango has a breakdown while the clones are laughing and watching all the moves the jedi are pulling

Jango is the “count me in as scared and horny” meme except he has so much confidence, that as soon as the jedi are done fighting he goes over and kisses kit fisto (who is a total DILF, btw)

Jango decides, of course, the only rational response to this is to marry the jedi. Like all the jedi. Immediately.

But then when the other mandalorians find out, they want jedi too.

Jango shows up to the mando reunion with like 50 jedi on his arm and the mandalorians are like “um excuse me wtf”

Cue mando civil war

The galaxy, who has been entertained by the custody court case, is shocked! Surprised! Confused! Even betrayed! They’re like “wait we thought you hated them? What do mandalorians know about the jedi that we don’t?”

Galaxy vs. mandalorians over jedi marriage

Mandalorians are united against the galaxy, but it’s everyone for themselves when it’s just them fighting over getting a jedi

Did you think the jedi would stop everyone fighting over their hand in marriage? Hell no. they are having way too much fun watching the galaxy fight over them. They are little shits and they’re just gonna sit back and watch for once

Shaak Ti, in particular, has many mandalorian spouses

Jango ends up claiming aayla for his son bly and he has many long arguments with the one and only quinlan vos over whether or not their children are worthy of each other

Quinlan has the “if you hurt my daughter, so help me” talk with bly, and aayla and jango are standing in the corner, glaring at quinlan (who may or may not be half drunk)

Bly is terrified of quinlan vos, because even if he’s half drunk, that man can be intimidating when he wants to be (quinlan is overprotective in some areas, loose in others. He is in multiple relationships. but he’s also a hardass when it comes to aayla, that’s for damn sure)

Yoda is officiating all the weddings, because space troll grandpa is finally having so much fun and he’s taking it all the way

“MARRIED YOU ARE BECAUSE SAY SO I DO”

Zero room for arguments. If you think they’re doing the “if you object to this union speak now or forever hold your piece” thing, you are mistaken. Nobody is arguing with this marriage if yoda’s officiating. If you try to object, he will 100% whack your shins with his stick until you have many bruises.

Jedi (over)share everything with each other, because they can feel everything, so why is anakin hiding his marriage anymore (especially after all this mandalorian drama)

Answer: he’s not hiding. Our favorite walking disaster reveals his marriage, which everyone probably already knew about (anakin has zero subtlety, you know it, i know it, the entire galaxy knows it)

Padme and anakin renew their vows, and of course, yoda is at the altar (his entire speech about why they’re gathered there today is FILLED with passive aggressive comments about not being invited to their wedding in the first place)

“Gathered here, we are, to renew young skywalker and senator amidala’s vows. Big event this is, yes, as see their original ceremony, we did not. Nice, it must have been. Know, I wouldn’t” *whacks anakin in the shin*

They end up discovering the control chips. The jedi, jango, and all the mandalorian spouses/trophy wives GO AFTER palpatine. He is very, very dead.

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supermarvelgirl15 · 3 years

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Small Gestures

Summary: It's always the smallest gestures that speak the loudest; the best gifts come from the heart.

Pairing: Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) × f!reader

Word Count: 1,920

Warnings: Minor spoilers for season 2, slight angst during one part

A/N: What? Me posting another fic? I know, I know, I'm surprised too. I'm just currently obsessed with Din Djarin. Also, there's a part where it's in Din's pov and it is not that good, I'm still trying to get the hang of writing him. Anyways, enjoy! And check out Is There a Problem Here? if you haven't already!

Main Masterlist

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At first, it was just small gestures. Making sure the other had eaten or had rested plenty. Helping cleaning their weapons or keeping up with the state of the Razor Crest. Even making sure that the Bacta spray or patch was being used correctly.

It was those small gestures that knitted the strong partnership between Y/N and the Mandalorian. Their relationship was based on trust and taking care of each other. Together they took care of the Child until they were able to return him to the Jedi. Until then, they were deemed his parents and he was their foundling.

They worked extremely well together in both battle and everyday tasks. If Din needed a tool to fix the wiring in the Razor Crest, Y/N would give it to him without him even asking. If Y/N needed cover as she ran to help the townspeople, they would just exchange a look and Din would do his job to protect her.

Greef had once commented on how they were the most in sync duo he had ever met. He's sworn he has never heard the pair mutter a word to each other while they were working, that it was like they knew exactly what they were doing. The Mandalorian and Y/N just shook it off, claiming it was because they had worked together for a few years now.

One time, after seeing how Y/N had brought up a cup of soup to the cockpit for Din to eat, claiming that he hadn't eaten all day, and how he didn't even argue, Cara realized how those small gestures were bigger than they appeared to be. She herself hadn't even realized that he hadn't eaten, and she was the one who was in the cockpit with him the entire time while Y/N was down in the hangar watching the Child.

Later on she watched how Mando placed a blanket over Y/N after she had fallen asleep with the Child in her arms in the cot. The heating had given out once again, so it was quite cold in the Crest. Cara didn't dare mutter a word as she observed how he watched her, as if to make sure she was still breathing. It was then she knew that it was a mutual thing.

∞∞∞

When Y/N saw Din get swallowed by the krayt dragon, her heart dropped. He had told her to take care of the Child and ordered Cobb Vanth to get them both to safety. She didn't dare breathe as she hoped that his Beskar was enough to protect him.

As the krayt dragon breached out of the sand and the Mandalorian had flown out of it just before it blew up, Y/N could've sobbed. She had never been so scared in her life and it wasn't even for her own sake. She would have rather go up against the army of Stormtroopers again than to go through that.

Y/N made her way towards him, the Child in his pod following right behind her. Din watched as they approached, meeting her halfway.

“Sorry, I didn't have time to explain,” he starts but is stopped when Y/N's hands come to grab either side of his helmet, pulling him closer to her. Her eyes scan over his body, ignoring the goop that he was covered in.

“Don't ever, ever do that again,” she says sternly.

Din and her stay like that, just staring at each other, the Child looking up at the both of them. They didn't break away until Cobb called them.

When they had gotten back to the Razor Crest, Y/N went to venture the street vendors as Din talked to Peli Motto about transporting a traveler. She came across a vendor that was selling necklaces with black obsidian.

She remembered being told that black obsidian was used for healing and protection. Din immediately came to mind, along with the feeling that she felt when she thought she wasn't going to see him again. Y/N knew it was just some stone, but that didn't stop her from telling the vendor that she would take one.

Later, the passenger that they agreed to transport was asleep in the cockpit while both Din and Y/N took a break in the hangar, mostly to make sure the Child didn't eat any more of the lady's eggs.

The Mandalorian was leaned up against the side of the wall, his head tilted back against it. Y/N wasn't sure if he fell asleep or if he was just relaxing for once. She held the necklace in her hand, rubbing her finger against the smooth surface.

“What's that?” Din grumbled, sitting up straight as he looked at Y/N. She looked down at the object in her hand, becoming slightly nervous for a reason she wasn't used to.

“Uh, it's black obsidian. It's used for healing and protection,” she answers him, fiddling with it some more before looking up at him. “I, uh, actually got it for you.”

Din looks at the necklace in her hand for a couple seconds before looking back up at her. “For... Me?” He questions incredulously.

Y/N nods slowly as she sticks her hand out to him, chewing on her bottom lip. Din reaches out and grabs it, his gloved hand lingering for only a brief second. Once it's in his own hands, he observes it more closely, rubbing his thumb around the hexagonal shape of the obsidian.

“It's for when I can't be there. It'll protect you. I know it sounds stupid, but... It's a nice thought,” she shrugs before pulling the Child by the robe away from the egg container.

Din smiles to himself as he watches her. “Thank you... Cyar'ika.”

∞∞∞

“It's like you don't even trust me anymore. It's starting to sound like you just don't want me around!”

“I don't! I worked better on my own before you came along.”

Din had been angry. It had just slipped, but those words dripped like venom from his tongue. He regretted saying such a thing to her. He didn't mean a word, but he knew Y/N wouldn't believe him.

He was just on edge about what Bo-Katan had said about his Creed. Then Y/N had gotten shot during their raid on the Imperial ship, and it was like adding gasoline to a fire.

All he had said when they left Nevarro was that she should stay behind once they reached Corvus. Y/N, of course, disagreed and that started their argument. He had already made her sit out when they took out the Imperial base, he should've known she wasn't going to sit on the bench again.

In reality, he was worried and didn't want her to get even more hurt, so his solution was to make her stay in the Razor Crest while he worked the jobs. Din realized that he was asking her to quit her way of life and it made him feel like a hypocrite.

For the rest of their flight to Corvus, Y/N stayed in the hangar, spending what time she had left with their Child and avoiding Din. He didn't see her again until they had landed.

Y/N wouldn't look at him except for the occasional glance. A word wasn't said between them when Din checked her Bacta patch or when they made their way to the city.

When they met Ahsoka Tano, she could feel the mixed emotions going on between the two. Anger. Worry. Sadness. Fear. Grief. Even the Child seemed to feel the tension going on between them.

The Mandalorian knew he shouldn't had been as relieved as he was when Ahsoka said that she couldn't train Grogu, that he would have to choose his own destiny with the seeing stone, but he was grateful to spend more time with him. He knew Y/N was relieved as well.

But once they were back in the Razor Crest, the tension between them returned. Din didn't know how he was going to apologise to her, he was sure she wouldn't even listen.

Din reached into his pocket, pulling out a necklace that he had gotten made when they had visited Nevarro. He had meant to give it to her then, but the argument had occurred between them, so there was never a perfect time.

He walked by her as she entertained Grogu, stopped in front of her, and dropped the necklace into her hand. Grogu climbed up into her lap, trying to see the shiny trinket. Y/N waited for him to say something, but was met with silence when he went up to the cockpit.

Y/N looked over the necklace in her hand, flipping it over a couple times. She ran her finger over the letters that were ingrained into the metal bar. Vaii gar slanar, Ni slanar.

She didn't know what it meant, but she knew that it had to be Mando'a. Din had taught her a few words in his Creed's language, but she didn't recognize these words though.

Taking a deep breath, she sat Grogu down. The little one looked up at her curiously, tilting his head slightly. She told him to wait there for a few minutes before making her way to the cockpit.

Y/N eyes widen slightly when she saw Din fiddling with the necklace she had gotten him a while ago, rubbing his thumb over the black obsidian. She didn't know that he held on to it, thinking that he had just put it up somewhere.

“I didn't know you kept it,” she finally says, coming up to sit beside him. The Mandalorian looks up at her surprised, his eyes slightly wide under his helmet.

Din looked back down at the stone in his hand. She thought he put it away? Why would he ever do that with something she gifted him? He realizes he probably would've thought the same thing if he was in her position.

“Vaii gar slanar, Ni slanar.”

The Mandalorian's head snaps back up to her, the modulator picking up his sharp inhale. “What?”

“Vaii gar slanar, Ni slanar. I hope I'm saying that correctly. That's Mando'a, right?” She asks, showing him the necklace he gave her. He looks at it briefly before nodding slowly.

Y/N looks back down at the necklace that was now around her neck. “What does it mean?”

Din reaches over, rubbing his leather-clad thumb over the ingrained lettering. He looks at it for a few seconds before finally looking up at her, making eye contact through his visor.

“Where you go, I go.”

Y/N bit her lip, putting her hand over his, scanning his helmet. She always respected the Way, but right now, all she wanted was to rip the stupid thing off his head.

“I'm sorry... About what I said,” Din apologizes, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand.

She smiles slightly. “I know you are,” she replies as she gives his hand a comforting squeeze. Din let's out a sigh of relief, leaning forward to place his helmet against her forehead. Y/N closes her eyes, the Beskar cold to her skin.

Din watches her from beneath his helmet, seeing how content she looked. He reaches his other hand up, cupping her cheek, the fabric a warm contrast compared to his Beskar.

“Close your eyes.”

××××××

#star wars #star wars imagine #the mandalorian imagine #mandalorian imagine #din djarin imagine #the mandalorian × reader #mandalorian × reader #din djarin × reader #the mandalorian #mandalorian #din djarin #pedro pascal #baby grogu #baby yoda #grogu #grogu djarin #kay writes

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not-so-mundane-after-all · 3 years

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After proessing this episode and seeing people's reactions over these past few hours...

Am I the only one who actually feels hopeful after that finale?

Yes, of course Din letting Grogu go broke my heart into a million little pieces and of course I'd want them to stay together. But this was the ending most of us expected, even if we didn't want this to happen. Din's mission for this season was to reunite the child with its kind and that's exactly what he has done.

Luke showing up, as awesome as it was, threw me off guard mostly because I thought a character like Luke Skywalker is simply too huge to put in this show. Nearly untouchable at this point. The appearances of Ahsoka Tano and Boba Fett already felt like Din was being overshadowed, so I didn't think they would do this. Until the moment he revealed his face I thought it's gonna be Ezra, Cal Ketsis or some new character - a person who got Grogu out of the Temple when the Jedi Order fell and somehow survived all these years.

The reason I'm feeling hopeful is because I see some kind of a pattern in how the story goes, following a path of character development. Because as important as the plot is, this story doesn't feel plot-driven to me, it's character-driven.

Season 1 told the story of how father and son, two lonely souls, found each other and formed a bond.

Season 2 made them realize what they mean to each other and what are they willing to do for one another - Din breaking the Creed and revealing his face so he can save his son and Grogu deciding to leave with Luke and train, so he can make sure his growing but uncontrolled abilities mixed with his strong attachment to his father won't be the reason Din gets hurt. Remember what Ahsoka said? "Grogu will choose his own path." It didn't happen at that seeing stone. It happened in the finale. Grogu made his choice and Din let him.

And I believe season 3 will focus of their separate character growth, both of them coming to terms with their own identites. Grogu will learn the ways of the Jedi and how to master his power in the right way. Din, now being crowned the ruler of Mandalore despite not wanting it in the first place will have to come to terms with his identity as a Mandalorian, how he feels about it and about himself, how his upbringing as The Child of The Watch fits into all of this and maybe consider the posibility to live outside of it. Once they both deal with that, they will reunite - either on purpose or because the fate will bring them together again when they least expect it. Who knows? Maybe we'll even get a parallel to the pilot episode?

As for the behind-the-scenes stuff, I'm not worried either.

Boba Fett SPIN OFF (because this is a spin off guys, chill) was announced this way to avoid spoilers (although I admit the way it was done brought out a good amount of confusion in me). It is NOT season 3. It's its own thing.

Grogu is NOT OFF THE SHOW. You really think those greedy bastards at Disney will let go of the one thing that brings them the most money right now, not just from streaming views and ratings but from toys and merchandise, stuff they harvest the most money from? BABY YODA IS EVERYWHERE, EVEN IN THE COUNTRIES THAT DON'T HAVE DISNEY+ YET (*waves my hand from Poland where Disney+ is basically nothing but a myth but Baby Yoda plushies are at every fucking supermarket and they are expensive af*) You really think they are just gonna put a high-tech puppet worth MILLIONS of dollars into a box and stash it somewhere in a warehouse? NOPE.

I also don't think we're gonna see Luke around that much. Why? I think money, again. It looks like they used the same technology that brought us young Leia and Tarkin in Rogue One. The Mandalorian's budget is already huge, but I feel this is something they needed to put some extra money out for. And didn't Mark Hamill said after TRoS that he's basically done with Luke? So how did they got him here? Was he on set? Was it just a body double while Mark recorded his lines and they mixed it so he could sound younger? Or maybe they went through his works, took voice samples and put his lines together this way? Who knows. I hope they reveal it in the making-of special on 25th.

Plus, with all those new live action and animated series recently announced, Disney won't be pumping all its money into Mando.

Now it all depends on the writing. There are some things I would add or extend this season. It wasn't perfect but nothing ever is.

All we gotta do now is wait (and not waste our energy on overthinking)

#the mandalorian spoilers #the mandalorian season 2 #the mandalorian #din djarin #grogu #grogu djarin #baby yoda #ahsoka tano #boba fett #luke skywalker

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clonewarslover55 · 4 years

Text

Jungle Moved Chapter one(1/7)

Predator and CloneWars Crossover

Chapter two Chapter three Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven

Go check out my summary and notes before reading please!

Based off of this wonderful art by @scuttlebuttin

Notes: I hope you all enjoy it!! There’s no gore or Predator in this chapter.

Warnings: Blood, gore, death, alien dude, language, tobacco use, mentions of death, nasty gory shit that I go into detail about, violence, characters being assholes, fight scenes that are probably poorly written, jungle stuff, suspension, arguments, weapons, alien technology

*Outside of the border of Guatemala, 1987*

The helicopter landed gently at the base, the rescue team inside happy to finally be back on land. Wrecker jumped out first, his bag slung over his shoulder. Crosshair, Tech, and Hunter were close behind. Fives hopped out next, happy to finally stretch his legs. Wolffe sat in the helicopter for a moment, a smirk crossing his lips in excitement with this next mission.

Nothing was better to him and his boys then a good mission. Wolffe got out of the helicopter last, grabbing his bag and hopping into one of the jeeps like his men did. The jeeps drove them through the swampy base, they took Wolffe’s men to the barracks and Wolffe to the general to discuss the mission.

Wolffe hopped out of the jeep in front of the small cabin, his old friend quick to meet him. “Lookin’ good Wolffe.” The general smiled and grasped his hand, “It’s been a long time, general.” Wolffe smirked. The general nodded and cocked his head to the side, instructing him to follow.

It was important then. If it wasn’t, the general wouldn’t be rushing him slightly. Wolffe was very observant, even with one eye. He had to be, that’s how he had survived this long. That’s how his team had become the best. Wolffe followed the older man into the cabin where he’d be debriefed on what exactly he was getting his men into.

*A few minutes later*

“Eighteen(18) hours ago we lost a small squad that was escorting a foregian cabinet minister.” The general pointed to a big circled red dot on the map, “We think they’re somewhere around here.” Wolffe snorted and rolled his good eye, “Does this team of yours always travel on the wrong side of the border?”

The general gave the gruff voiced man a cold look, “They strayed off course in the jungle. We believe the Guerrillas have them in their custody.” Wolffe crossed his muscular arms, his black short sleeve shirt showing some of his wolf tattoo that rested on his shoulder. “Why do you need us? Why can’t you just use-”

A very familiar voice spoke up behind him, “Because some damn fool said you were the best.” Wolffe scowled and turned his head to the side, eyeing his old friend with his good eye. Gree stood up, a smirk on the red head's face.

“Gree you son of a bitch!!” Wolffe smiled and locked hands with the man, engaging in an arm lock. Gree could only grin. He caught up with his old friend and brother in arms before moving back to the table where the map is.

“So what do we have to do?” He cocked a black eyebrow as he glanced back at the maps. The general and Gree quickly explained why they needed the best of the best. Wolffe listened to Gree’s compliments as he tried to woo him into accepting the mission. Luckily for Gree, Wolffe has a big ego. “Go on.” The one eyed man smirked willing to listen to the plan.

“Simple set up. One day operation.” Gree spoke quickly, “We find their trail with a chopper. Run em’ down, grab those hostages and then head back across the border before anyone even knows we were there.” Wolffe scowled and looked at Gree, “What do you mean…….We?” Gree smirked, “I’m going in with you.”

Wolffe looked at the general with a pissed off look, “General. My team always works alone, you know that.” He nearly spat the words. The general didn’t seem to give a rats ass, “We all have our orders Wolffe. Once you reach your objective Gree will evaluate the situation and take charge.”

Wolffe did not like this at all. He sneered at Gree, wanting to knock the smirk off the man's face.

*Early next morning*

Wolffe and his men sat in the helicopter along with Gree, loud upbeat music playing in the background. Everyone was ready to go, their faces painted in camouflage. They all checked their weapons and paint, anxiously waiting.

All of their face paint was different, but each pattern would blend in with the jungle. Wrecker had simple dark green and light diagonal lines across his face and under his eyes. Crosshair just had a few straight thin greenish brown lines going vertically down his narrow face and neck. Tech only had his cheeks colored with green and a few stripes above his eyebrows. Fives had two thick dark green stripes on each cheek, reaching from his jawline to under his eyes. The one on the left actually crossed over his eye and onto his forehead, stopping at his hairline.

Wolffe had multiple thick dark green lines on his face, one traced his left cheek bone and one went from the top of his nose down the right side of his face. Another line ran from his hairline, over his eye patch and to the corner of his jaw, while the last one covered his chin. Hunter had multiple dark and light green half circles on his face. One eye was completely covered with nearly a whole circle mixed with dark and light green, while the other was only halfway covered. Two dark green lines traced his cheek bones, connecting across the bridge of his nose which was painted light green. He had two half circles one either side of his mouth, connecting at his chin in a light green.

Hunter was very pretentious with his face paint. Wolffe was as well, he even put some diagonal lines along his bare arms and biceps. Gree’s paint mostly covered his face like Hunter’s but his was a different cameo like pattern, similar to their army pants.

Wrecker chewed some chewing tobacco, checking his weapons over as he did so. Hunter painted his face slowly, making sure his hair and bandana were perfect as he did so in the mirror. Hunter ignored Wrecker’s random shouts, too focused on his paint to give a fuck.

Crosshair finished checking his rifle and looked at Fives, both men suddenly smirking at one another. Fives grabbed a face paint marker and tossed it at Tech, who was reading something. Tech caught the marker without looking up, a smirk crossing his face. Tech looked up at his two teammates, his glasses reflecting the red light of the helicopter. They couldn’t help but grin back.

Gree sat beside Wolffe, looking over the map with him. “Where’s our backup?” Gree chuckled, “No such thing!” He grinned, but then got serious. “Once we cross that border…..We’re on our own.” Wolffe snorted, adjusting his eye patch. “This gets better by the minute.”

Wrecker held out the bag of chewing tobacco to Fives, who slapped it away. “Get that stinking shit out of my face!! Wrecker laughed and tried to offer some to Hunter, who just ignored him. “Come on guys!!” He chewed some more, “This stuff will make you a sexual tyrannosaurus! Like me!!” He held up the bag that had a picture of a T-Rex holding two guns and shooting them into the air with the words, “Sexual Tyrannosaurus!” Under it.

Gree raised an eyebrow at Wrecker, who spit onto his boot. It was clear no one enjoyed his presence there. “That’s a real nasty habit you got there son.” Wrecker couldn’t help but smirk.

A few minutes later an alarm blared, causing all the men to look up and prepare themselves for rappelling. Wolffe removed his headset and gave them some hand signals, letting his men know that they were crossing the border into Guatemala. Wolffe pulled on his fingerless gloves while his men pulled on their packs. They were all ready.

The men stood up, clipping the ropes of their harnesses onto the bar on the ceiling of the helicopter. The chopper hovered and Wolffe gave more signals. With ease, all men rappelled to the ground, swiftly unhooking themselves. The helicopters didn’t land, they flew off the moment the men were all on the ground.

Wolffe motioned for his men to follow, then they all marched out into the jungle.

Tags: @divergent-llamas-03 @klay97 @iamassbuttkingofhell @sued134 @jedi-mando @mackstrut @shadylightbearherring @opalstxrs

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cutieodonoghue · 3 years

Photo

the edge of hope (6/9)

summary: canon divergent au; when Din left Sorgan to protect the Child, he left the woman he’d fallen in love with, not knowing he’d also left behind something else. Or, Omera and Winta join Mando and Grogu on their season 2 adventures. Mandomera!

Catch up here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Sixth chapter below the cut or on AO3!

The Jedi

The journey to Corvus took a while, which meant there was enough time for the crew aboard the Razor Crest to spend time together in the hold of the ship.

While Winta and the Child played together on the floor, giggling loud enough that it could be heard from the cockpit, Omera spent her time working on a sewing project for the baby. It would be a pair of socks, eventually, mended together with fabric she’d brought along from the village.

Din had decided to stay up above by himself. She had to wonder if it was because he was upset about having to say goodbye to his boy once they found a Jedi. Hopefully, they wouldn’t find themselves following yet another clue to find the Jedi that Bo-Katan had vouched for.

As Omera sewed together the small sock for her unborn child, she couldn’t ignore the guilt that sat within her. She should’ve told Din when she had the opportunity. She should’ve found the words, as hard as they would’ve come. But instead, she’d allowed herself to get caught up in it all over again.

There was no such thing as perfect timing. She knew that now. The children would always be a priority in their travels, and so would the mission at hand.

As if he knew she was thinking of him, the Mandalorian dropped down from the upper level, landing with a thud that startled the children. They each turned to look at him for a moment, and when he had nothing to say, they returned to what they were doing.

He came to stand near Omera, though he didn’t come as close as he usually did. She sat within the opened sleeping nook, on the edge so that she could watch the children play.

“Are we getting close?”

Din turned his attention onto her, looking away from the kids. “Still a while to go.”

Omera nodded in understanding.

She watched Winta roll a ball across the floor, gesturing for the Child to go grab it for himself. He seemed less interested in play time, instead flopping down to sit. Winta did the same.

“When we were on Nevarro…” Din spoke carefully, just low enough that it was only for her to hear. Omera looked up at him patiently. “Cara and Greef said some things…”

She couldn’t help but smile. “They implied some things…”

He nodded. “I… just want you to know that I would’ve gone back to Sorgan. Even if you hadn’t come with us. You’re… important. To me.”

Her heart fluttered. She knew he wanted them to be together, that he may have even had feelings for her that were strong, but to hear him say so aloud felt like a gift.

“I would’ve been there waiting.”

The Mandalorian was quiet while his focus changed, shifting instead to his toddling boy with a happy grin on his face. At his side, Winta had discovered the Mandalorian armor that Cobb Vanth had worn on Tatooine. She slid the helmet over her head and giggled. Then, she pulled it off and showed it to the Child.

It surprised her a little that Din didn’t chastise the children for playing with it. He’d felt so strongly about protecting the armor and bringing it back to his people.

“Before him, I provided for my people on Nevarro. The covert is gone now. Scattered. After we find his kind, I won’t have a path I’m sworn to.”

Din folded his arms against his chest and turned his attention onto her again.

“I thought… maybe my next path would reveal itself to me on this journey. Maybe I’d find the members of my covert who scattered. But instead, we’ve just run around in circles, and Gideon’s back.”

She’d felt so excited at the idea of being together when this mission was over that she hadn’t considered what Din wanted to do next. Her only concern had been the relief of knowing he wanted to be together.

Would he still want that when he learned of their child? And what about his future? Was it fair to him to stay together somewhere, raising a family, when he could help so many with his skills and talents?

Her stomach flipped and she averted her gaze, looking at the baby sock in her hand.

“Well, maybe your next steps will be revealed to you soon,” Omera told the Mandalorian. She refused to look at him, feeling too ashamed of herself.

Din was silent for a few seconds. “Maybe.”

Before Omera had the chance to say anything, to offer him hope, he walked away, retreating back toward the cockpit again. She shut her eyes, sighing softly through her nose.

How could they ever be together? It felt like a dream that would never be realized, so distant that it felt foolish to continue running after it.

At her feet, she felt the sudden warm embrace of small hands around her calf. Looking down, she saw the Child, whose smile was gentle and innocent.

“Hi, little one.”

Omera leaned down to pull him up into her lap. With her arm around his belly, he wrapped his fingers around hers.

“What do you think?” She held up the sock. “It’s not finished yet… but I think it will work.”

The Child tilted his head and cooed. He reached out with one hand to take it and she laughed.

“It isn’t for you.” Omera kissed the top of his head before whispering, “It’s for your little brother or sister.”

The Child’s smile spread happily. Her heart felt warm. She could only imagine what it would feel like to finally tell Din.

“Din.” Winta sighed his name heavily from her seat behind him. “I miss home.”

They had been on their way to Corvus for a considerable length of time, so Winta’s complaint wasn’t without its reason, but it still hurt to hear. They were a traveling crew, one he was quite fond of. Winta in particular was just one way this journey had become so much brighter, in more ways than one.

Omera had excused herself to use the privy a few minutes ago and still hadn’t returned, so Din knew he had no choice but to turn and answer the angst-ridden child.

“I know you’re uncomfortable. I think we’re all getting a little cabin fever.”

Winta threw her head back and huffed a dramatic sigh. “I wish we could just be there already.”

Din sighed. He took a peek out the window of the cockpit and pointed to the nearby planet.

“Look. That’s Corvus. If you can just sit tight for a few more minutes, we’ll start the landing cycle, and we’ll be back on solid ground soon enough.”

The door to the cockpit opened and Omera entered. She sat without saying anything, but he still glanced back at her anyway.

The journey had been unintentionally tense between them for no other reason than his knowing that she had something to tell him, and her insistence that she wait until they finally found the Jedi.

If she wanted to tell him her feelings, he had an inclination that he knew what they were already. At least, he hoped he knew. After everything that they’d shared, everything spoken and unspoken, the direction she seemed to lean was in the very same direction he did.

It was hard to admit it to himself, after a lifetime of perfecting a tough outer shell. The feeling had only intensified with her closeness to him these past few weeks.

Din was in love, and it wasn’t just with Omera. He’d fallen for Winta too, the adorable girl with dimples and a penchant for making up songs.

They would be together, once this journey was finished, and it made his chest tight with longing each time the thought came to his mind, even if it terrified him. He didn’t know what it would look like, or how they would make it work. They’d figure it out. They’d have to.

“We’re almost there,” Din told Omera. He looked at the Child, seated on the console to his right. “You better get back in your seat, kid.”

The Child cooed, but didn’t move. For a second, he looked at the ball tightened on the lever - his favorite toy to hold.

“Hey,” Din said, trying to force his attention back on him. “What did I tell you? Back in your seat.”

After one more coo, the Child finally used his feet to move, climbing up onto Omera’s lap with a little contented sigh from the boy.

With the Empire likely on their tail and the Jedi not too far ahead, Din had to wonder what would come next. Would Moff Gideon lay off if the Child was returned to his kind? Would the Jedi even want to take him?

It was enough to keep Din’s mind busy considering every possible outcome of this stop on Corvus- a place, they soon discovered, that had been devastated by something, or someone. Trees sat dying on the barren forest floors, and a sleepy town sat behind tall brick walls.

It seemed desolate and empty. Why would a Jedi come here?

After settling the Razor Crest onto the ground near the town with tall brick walls, Din turned to his crew in the cockpit.

“Well, Corvus awaits.”

Winta slouched off of her chair, the earlier angst having melted into some sort of fresh tiredness mixed with it. Omera shook her head at the girl.

“You’ll feel better once we get outside,” Omera said as she ushered her child up out of her chair. “Let’s go.”

As they stepped off of the Crest, Din focused on the world around them. It was quiet. A few creatures moaned in the distance, but the land seemed peaceful. Although, the dead trees standing all around the ship seemed to be a bad omen for things to come.

Behind him, the Child sat down on the ramp. Din turned, frowning when he saw that he’d pulled the ball off of the lever.

“What did I say about that?” He leaned down, scooping the Child into his arms. He pulled the ball away from him. “This needs to stay in the ship.”

“Mama, what happened to this land? It’s so… sad.”

Omera shook her head. “I don’t know. It certainly hasn't been cared for, has it?”

“No.”

Din approached the pair who stood just ahead of him.

“Let’s head into town. See if we can pick up a lead. I’ve never had dealings with a Jedi before, so… not sure where to start.”

“That seems as good a place as any to try,” Omera agreed.

The walls of the town were higher than they’d seemed before, towering high above them as they approached the main gate. A handful of officers stood watch above them. Thoughtfully, he hid the Child within the fabric sling at his side in an attempt at keeping his identity secure.

After a short inquiry by the gate officers, they were permitted to enter through the gates, and once they stepped inside, Din knew right away that this mission was about to be difficult. Very few of the people within the gates seemed eager to linger, much less look in their direction.

“Pardon me, vendor, have you heard of anyone…”

The vendor turned away from him, heading away from her goods and inside the building just behind her. Frowning, Din sighed. He looked at Omera, who lingered behind him. She stared into an alleyway, at an older man who tended to two children.

“Excuse me,” Omera kept her voice low and kind. “Can you help us?”

The older man shooed the children away and then approached them. “Please, do not speak to them, or to any of us.”

Frowning, Omera shook her head. “We just need help finding someone. Please-”

Before she could make any headway with the villager, a pair of fully armed and threatening guards approached them and addressed him directly.

“The Magistrate wants to see you.”

He met Omera’s gaze. She instantly held Winta closer. With a nod toward the guards, he allowed them to guide them toward their Magistrate.

“Stay close.”

Omera nodded silently.

They were led toward another large gate within the town: a strange centerpiece to an already strange place.

Worried, he kept Omera and Winta in his sights at his side. He was always committed to protecting them, but with the hope of staying together once this journey was finished, he felt extra protective.

As they approached the second gate, Omera protected her daughter from the sight of three prisoners being tortured for all to see. He tried to shield Winta from it as well and stepped in front of her strategically.

“Help us.” He was electrocuted for his words and released a scream so bloodcurdling that Din couldn’t help but feel contempt for the one who was doing this to them.

Beyond the gates, there was a calm and peaceful garden. A bridge covered a pond full of fish, and that’s where the Magistrate stood, feeding her pets while three lives were tortured to the brink of death just feet away.

He led his crew just beyond the gates and stopped.

“Come forward.” It was clear to him that this woman was the cause of the troubles of this town. While she lived in comfort, her people were tightly controlled and fearful for their lives. Even still, he stepped toward her with Omera and Winta just behind him. “You are a Mandalorian?”

“Yes.”

“I have a proposition that may interest you.”

Din held his head high, glancing out of the corner of his vision at Omera. She held Winta close, protecting her even though they’d already seen the worst that this town had to offer.

“My price is high.”

The Magistrate took a few steps toward him. “A Jedi plagues me. I want you to kill her.”

He felt the Child stir a little at his side and was reminded of his true purpose for being on this planet. He needed to find the Jedi, not kill her.

“That’s a difficult task.”

The Magistrate offered a small smile. “One that you are well-suited for. The Jedi are the ancient enemy of Mandalore.”

“As I said, my price is high.”

He was unwilling to pledge that he’d kill one of the Child’s kind. It was wrong to even consider such a thing, but he didn’t want to put their lives in danger by denying the Magistrate’s offer. It seemed to him that she might know where the Jedi was, and that was all he needed.

The Magistrate quietly summoned a guard droid forward, one holding a spear in hand.

“What do you make of this?”

The Magistrate spun the dull end of the spear toward him and then held it outward in both hands as an offering. Carefully, he stepped toward her to take it. When he took it into his hands, he studied it carefully. It seemed like beskar in feel, and when he tested it against his arm gauntlet, he was proven right. Rang out clean.

“Beskar.”

“Pure beskar… like your armor. Kill the Jedi and it’s yours.”

“Where do I find this Jedi?”

Walking around on a dying, unfamiliar planet with two children was not his brightest idea, especially considering the risks surrounding them, but they really had no choice. If they wanted to find the Jedi, they needed to keep moving.

Omera walked at his side while Winta ran ahead. She used the angst she’d built up on the ship in the quickness of her strides. It was only the smallest step above the complaining she’d done when they began the walk in terms of anxiety-inducing behaviors.

“Winta!” Omera called after her. “Winta, you can’t keep running ahead.”

Winta stopped, throwing her head back to groan. “Mama…”

“This is a planet none of us know,” Omera scolded. “We don’t know what’s out there. We can’t protect you if you get too far ahead.”

An idea came to him when he heard the Child make a noise. He gestured for Winta. “Come here. You can hold the Child.”

Winta came back toward them and waited patiently for him to grab the boy from the sling at his side. When he settled him into Winta’s arms, the Child cooed happily.

“There,” Din said, nodding toward them. “We’re getting close to the coordinates. We stay together. Understood?”

Winta nodded. “Yes, Din.”

He looked at Omera, whose usual brightness seemed to have dampened. “Okay?”

She took a breath of the thick Corvus air and smiled slightly. “I think all of the adventure is finally catching up with me. Traveling with two young ones isn’t easy, is it?”

Din shook his head. “No, but at least we’re together.”

Her expression softened a little and she nodded her head. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Maybe I’m just overwhelmed thinking about what will happen when we find the Jedi. Will he go with them? Will he be okay with the Empire after him? Will we?”

They were all questions that had been plaguing him since learning of Gideon’s survival on Nevarro. It was comforting to know he had Omera to lean on as she worried about the same uncertainties.

Sighing, Din stared at the Child in Winta’s arms. “I don’t know.”

A twig snapped behind them and Din turned quickly, pulling his blaster from his side as he moved. Ahead of him, an unfamiliar figure stood with a pair of light sticks in her hands. She wore a soft smile on her lips and a quirk in her brow.

“Aren’t bounty hunters supposed to travel lightly?”

Din narrowed his eyes slightly. “Are you Ahsoka Tano?” The woman said nothing indicating if she was or not, so he held hope that she was. “Bo-Katan sent me. We need to talk.”

Pleasantly, she stepped closer to them. For a moment, he thought about how he’d attack should she decide to try something, but she saw past him and Omera, her gaze settling on the Child in Winta’s arms instead.

“I hope it’s about him.”

The Jedi sat opposite the Child, both planted firmly on fallen trees, for hours. The light of the day gave easily to night, and Din was unable to stay in one place for longer than a second.

He paced around in wandering circles, waiting helplessly as Ahsoka seemed to commune with the Child in silence.

He knew nothing of how the Jedi worked, or if talking silently was how the Child was meant to communicate, but he found some comfort in the way Ahsoka Tano carried herself. She would have answers for him.

Leaning against a nearby tree, Omera held a snoozing Winta in her arms. Her nervous gaze was set only on him every time he even cast a glance in her direction. His stomach flipped at the contact and his heart clenched warmly within his chest.

He found comfort in the fact that he wasn’t in this alone. They’d found the Jedi together.

From their perch just ahead of him, Ahsoka nodded at the Child, whose arms were held out as if he wished to be carried. She scooped him into her arms and grabbed her lantern, then slowly made her way towards him.

Feeling nothing short of anxious, Din met her halfway. The Jedi settled the Child upon a rock and sat next to him. The kid babbled at her and she smiled fondly.

“Is he speaking?” Din asked. “Do you understand him?”

“In a way,” Ahsoka replied, meeting his gaze. “Grogu and I can feel each other’s thoughts.”

“Grogu?” Din asked. It earned him an excited chirp from the Child as he craned his head to the side to look up at him.

“Yes.” Din stared at the Child. The Child stared back. Something had changed in the kid. Maybe it was because he was understood by someone. “That’s his name.”

“Grogu.”

This time, the Child’s eyes were wider and his ears perked up. There was a happy look on his face accompanying the noise he made. It must’ve been true: his name was Grogu.

“He was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Many Masters trained him over the years. At the end of the Clone Wars when the Empire rose to power, he was hidden.” As Ahsoka spoke, Din sat on a fallen tree stump opposite the Jedi to listen to her story. “Someone took him from the Temple. Then his memory becomes… dark. He seemed lost. Alone.”

She paused and looked thoughtfully at the kid- Grogu. He seemed tired. His eyes squinted and his head fell. His ears flopped around as he tried to keep awake. “I’ve only known one other being like this. A wise Jedi Master named Yoda.”

As if affirming her words, Grogu made a noise. Din wasn’t sure what to think, but he appreciated learning about his history. As tragic as it sounded, he could relate to it. They were both foundlings. They had both been lost.

“Can he still wield the Force?” she asked.

Din shook his head. The word meant absolutely nothing to him. “You mean his powers?”

“The Force is what gives him his powers. It is an energy field created by all living things. To wield it takes a great deal of training and discipline.”

He thought back over every extraordinary thing, big and small, that he’d seen the kid do. There was so much power inside of him that Din could never explain or make peace with. The Mudhorn. Healing Karga. What he did on Nevarro with the fire. Moving things… choking people.

“I’ve seen him do things I can’t explain.” On the rock to his left, Grogu had closed his eyes, tired, and sighed as sleep overwhelmed him. “My task was to bring him to a Jedi.”

Sorrowfully, Ahsoka’s gaze fell dark. She frowned. “The Jedi Order fell a long time ago.”

It seemed like she didn’t want to help him. She had to know the dangers that the kid faced. He was special and wanted because of it.

“So did the Empire, yet it still hunts him. He needs your help.”

The Jedi contemplated this. He could tell that it wasn't something she took lightly. On either side of Grogu's path, there was the threat of the Empire.

“Let him sleep,” the Jedi said. “I’ll test him in the morning.”

Gently, she stood up, but she didn't walk away. Din followed her action and lifted the Child into his arms, cradling him as he typically did. Glancing past him, Ahsoka stared at Omera and Winta, not for the first time since their meeting. She looked back again.

“Grogu is attached to all of you,” she shared. She kept her voice low on behalf of the kid. “He told me she was special to you, too.”

Din smiled to himself, unable to help it. “Her name is Omera. She is… very special to me, yes.”

Ahsoka smiled amiably at his words. “It worries me- how attached Grogu is. It will make it difficult to train him.” Pausing, she took a half step backward. “But we’ll see how he is in the morning.”

“Right.”

He looked down at the boy sleeping in his arms for only a moment, but when he looked back up again, the Jedi had disappeared.

On a sigh, he made his way over to Omera. She was still awake where she rested, waiting for him to share what he’d learned from the Jedi. He sat down with his back pressed to the same tree. Their shoulders pressed together, but he couldn’t see her.

“What did she say?” Omera asked quietly.

Din’s chest ached as he lowered his hand to the Child’s belly.

Finally, he knew who this special child was, and it would only be a matter of time before they were no longer together. Ahsoka would undoubtedly see potential in Grogu and want to train him. It was something he hadn’t thought about, not wanting to deal with the realization that he had grown so attached to the kid.

Now that the time had finally come, the reality weighed heavy in his heart.

“She said his name is Grogu. She’s going to test his abilities in the morning.”

“Grogu,” Omera repeated. She laughed under her breath. “It’s nice to hear that he has a name.”

Din nodded in agreement. “It is.”

Silence between them grew like a vine on a wall for a long time, until Omera shifted and put her hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry we’ve made this part of the journey so difficult. Winta wants to go home… I’ve been distant...”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“I do. I want you to know that I’m here to support you. And Grogu. I want to be here with you both.”

Hearing Omera say that she wanted to be with him wasn’t a surprise. They’d made an agreement that they would find a path forward together once Grogu was with the Jedi. Even still, he felt his heart rate double at her words.

Omera wanted him in a way no other had before. She wanted a life with him, and he wanted it in kind. It surprised him how much he did.

Din shut his eyes. He pressed his head against the tree.

“When this is over…” he paused thoughtfully. “Maybe we could go to Nevarro. Winta can go to school. I can get work with Cara or Greef. We can have a home there.”

For a few seconds, she was quiet. He began to doubt that she felt comfortable with the idea of a life like that with him. Maybe she wanted something different. Maybe she wanted a life on Sorgan. But could he settle down there?

“That sounds nice,” Omera finally replied. Her voice was warm and gentle. “Maybe I would become a Mandalorian, too.”

The thought of Omera becoming Mandalorian was enough for him to forget to breathe.

“You would do that?”

“Yes.” Omera’s responding whisper brought an unbreakable smile to his face. “I’m kind of jealous of your armor, if I’m honest.”

He laughed, a noise that came from his belly, and Omera joined him. Her fingers found his on the forest floor, gentle when they slid against his gloved hand.

How had he found her? How had he been so lucky?

“What about Sorgan?” Din asked. “Your people would miss you. Winta would miss it too.”

She sighed. “I know. I think we would make it work. She could find new friends. And we would be together. I don’t want you to have to settle for something like a life on Sorgan if it isn’t what you want.”

“You shouldn’t have to settle, either.”

She was quiet while she thought about it. “We could visit the village. It’s a compromise I’m willing to make for our future together.”

With his eyes closed, he could see it: a home in Nevarro. Winta’s giggles echoing off the walls. A bed he and Omera could share alone. Doing odd jobs for Greef and Cara. Bringing Winta home a gift from wherever he found himself in his travels.

If he extended his reach enough, he could just feel it in the palm of his hand.

In the morning, once Grogu finally awoke, Ahsoka Tano began testing his abilities.

She started with a rock in her hand, one she pushed toward him as a demonstration of what she wanted him to do. Once he held the rock in his hand, she asked him to push it back by using the Force.

Din watched from the side, sensing that Grogu’s stubborn streak didn’t only include not listening to him. Apparently, he struggled to listen to everyone. When Grogu failed to send the rock back to Ahsoka, the Jedi sighed.

Thoughtful, she took a step to the side. “Let’s try something else. Come over here.”

Din looked to the Child and tilted his head toward Ahsoka to try and get him to move. He didn’t.

“He’s stubborn.”

“Not him. You. I want to see if he’ll listen to you.”

He glanced over at Omera, who sat nearby with Winta, brushing back her daughter’s hair as they watched Grogu’s test in silence. They didn’t want to cause distraction for the kid.

“That would be a first,” Din remarked, lifting his brow in exasperation.

“I like firsts,” Ahsoka said with a wry smile. “Good or bad, they’re always memorable.” She handed him a fresh stone, wanting to start over. “Now, hold the stone out in the palm of your hand. Tell him to lift it up.”

He did as he was told, the rock placed delicately between his thumb and forefinger. “All right, kid. Lift the stone.”

The Child stared back at him, blinking. Apparently, he didn’t want to listen to him either.

“Grogu,” Ahsoka reminded him.

“Grogu…” Din repeated.

This time, Grogu’s ears perked up. It was clear he enjoyed hearing Din say his name. Might have to keep that in mind for later.

“Come on, take the stone.”

Din could tell that Grogu gave it an effort, but it was nothing compared to what he’d seen him do before.

“You see?” He turned to face the Jedi and chucked the rock backward onto the ground again. It was useless. The kid didn't want to do it. “I told you, he’s stubborn.”

“Try to connect with him.”

Connect with him… how? A thought occurred to him, one that made him smile slightly. The ball from the lever on the Crest seemed to get him to do what he wanted. Just like Omera had suggested: award him with something he wanted to earn his responsiveness.

Din reached into his belt to find the ball. He lifted it into his palm and then slid it between his thumb and forefinger.

“Grogu.” He waited to get the kid’s attention locked on him. He gestured to the ball with a nod. “Do you want this?” His ears perked. “Well, go ahead.”

The Child concentrated on pulling the ball from him. He could feel it. Something was happening. He was about to do this, wasn’t he? He could prove to them all that he could use the Force.

“That’s right, take it. Come on.” Din couldn’t help from smiling from beneath his helmet. He had faith in the kid. He’d seen him do so much… if Ahsoka only knew. “You can have it. Come on.”

In an instant, the ball soared through the air between them, landing directly in Grogu’s waiting palm. He couldn’t help the swell of pride within him. He nodded, moving toward the Child.

“Good job!” He felt the grin on his face spread. “Good job, kid. You see that? That’s right.”

Din caught Omera staring at him. She smiled in kind, just as proud of Grogu as he was.

The Child cooed, looking at him as if he was more excited about the affirmation than he was about having his ball in his hands again. When he approached Grogu on his perch, he knelt down. He offered Din the ball and he took it, unable to look away from him. He was always amazed when he saw the kid do his thing. There was no doubt that he had gifts.

“I knew you could do it. Very good.”

From behind them, the Jedi spoke, “It’s like I thought. He’s formed a strong attachment to you. I cannot train him.”

He knitted his brow, instantly upset, and whirled around. “What? Why not? You’ve seen what he can do.”

Ahsoka stared at the Child for a moment and then turned her attention up to him. “His attachment to you makes him vulnerable to his fears. His anger.”

“All the more reason to train him.”

The Jedi took a step towards him. “No. I’ve seen what such feelings can do to a fully trained Jedi Knight. To the best of us. I will not start this child down that path. Better to let his abilities fade.” Ahsoka glanced toward Omera and Winta briefly. Then, she took a step backward as if she were prepared to leave. “I’ve delayed too long. I must get back to the village.”

The Jedi began on her path away from them, but Din knew he couldn’t let her go.

“The Magistrate sent me to kill you.” The Jedi pivoted on her heel to face him once more. “I didn’t agree to anything. And I’ll help you with your problem, if you see to it that Grogu is properly trained.”

Ahsoka took a deep breath as she considered the agreement. Together, they would make quite the team- one their enemies would never see coming.

Having made up her mind, she nodded. “Then we should get moving.”

After an afternoon spent trudging through the dying forests of Corvus, Omera felt as if every ounce of energy she had was absolutely depleted. As they approached the Razor Crest, all at once, all she wanted was to curl up in a corner somewhere and sleep.

Din and Ahsoka had come up with a plan to solve the Jedi’s problem, but they would wait for morning before they would begin their siege. Until then, their group returned to the Crest in silence, listening to the sounds of their feet against the forest floor and a couple of creatures moaning in the distance.

“He’s worn out,” Din murmured as he adjusted his son in his arm.

Omera hummed. “Using the Force must tire him.”

The Mandalorian nodded in agreement. He was the first up the Razor Crest’s extended ramp. As he walked, he soothed Grogu with his palm over his belly. Omera couldn’t help but see the action as a vision from the future, where he carried their newborn in the very same way. The thought made her heart ache with longing.

Winta followed after the Mandalorian, but Omera lingered at the base of the ramp. She turned when she felt a set of eyes on her. Ahsoka studied her from nearby with a soft, unassuming smile on her face.

She hadn’t realized that Ahsoka had followed them, but wasn’t surprised to see her. They’d spent the better part of the day together.

The Jedi approached, only slowing to a stop when they were close enough that their conversation would be kept private.

“I can feel your child,” Ahsoka said. She looked downward, a silent gesture to her middle. “It’s a boy. He’s strong. Healthy. Congratulations.”

Her heart raced wildly. How could she know? Was it the same way that Grogu knew?

“Thank you. But how do you…?”

Briefly, Ahsoka glanced up the ramp toward the inside of the Razor Crest. The Jedi was calm. Patient.

“The Force is in all things.” With a small smile, she added, “Grogu sensed him too.”

Omera thought back to the experiences she’d shared with the boy, where he’d seemingly been able to sense the unborn without needing any prompting at all.

“I had a feeling.”

The Jedi took half a step backwards. “I’ll be back for the Mandalorian before dawn like we agreed. You should rest.”

Before she could respond, Ahsoka turned away. Omera shifted her focus upward to seek out her family within the Razor Crest.

If what Ahsoka said was to be believed, she carried within her a boy. It was good to know that he was strong and healthy. Any worries she’d had about that could be put away.

Absentmindedly, her palm fell over her middle and she gave the small bump a gentle caress. Joy filled her as she considered her unborn child. What would he look like? In what ways would he be like Din? The thoughts gave her heart a lot to ponder.

Inside the ship, she saw Din with Grogu at the sleeping nook while Winta watched on from a slight distance.

The Mandalorian lingered, hovering with his son as if he could make time freeze, and Omera looked to Winta again, whose sorrowful focus sat on Din.

Winta knew they would have to say goodbye to the young Jedi soon. It wouldn’t be easy for any of them to let go of Grogu and see him step into his future, but there was hope in it. Grogu would one day be able to master his skills and return to them stronger than before. It wouldn’t last forever.

“Why don’t you set up our bed out here tonight, my love?” Omera asked her daughter with a gentle hand pressed to her arm.

Winta rubbed her eyes tiredly and nodded. “Okay.”

Their bed wasn’t much: a series of blankets and a single pillow they shared, but it was enough to make do. It was at least better than sleeping sitting up in the cockpit, even if the ground made her muscles ache just the same.

Omera went to Din and put her hand over his forearm, drawing his attention to her. “He isn’t going anywhere. Let him rest.”

“I never gave any thought to him leaving,” Din admitted in a quiet voice. “I always thought there would be more time.”

She nodded. “I know.”

Din sighed heavily. He finally pulled away from the hole in the wall. Their fingers tangled between them and she knew then that he was more vulnerable than he’d ever been with her.

This was difficult for him. She’d never seen him so conflicted about doing what was right before.

“Let’s try to get a few hours of sleep.”

Once the makeshift bed on the floor of the Razor Crest was completed, they pulled the ramp back up for protection from the creatures of the forest planet, and Omera settled in beside her daughter beneath a single blanket.

The Mandalorian lay out on his back beside them. The position made Omera feel tired in the most bone-aching way, but she turned to him anyway, and saw that he stared back at her.

He pulled his glove from his hand and she smiled when he sought out hers. This time, he traced lines into it, drawing over the creases and grooves of her palm like he could memorize her.

Desperation filled her. She wished that they were alone so that she could tell him how she felt about him. That she loved him. That she was carrying his child- a boy. That the future they’d discussed just a night ago was more possible than they could even dream.

“Are you okay?” Omera asked in a whisper.

Din stopped his movements on her hand briefly at the question she posed and then continued, whispering in response, “I can’t teach him what he needs to know. This is the best path for him.”

His selflessness was one of the strongest parts of him, but she knew it didn’t sit as easily as he made it sound. This was hard. He and Grogu were a clan of two. They’d formed an unbreakable bond.

“But are you okay?” Omera asked again.

The Mandalorian hesitated.

“I’ve grown to care for him as my own.” Din’s voice was quieter than before; timid. “He’s… my son.”

His words brought tears to her eyes. She forced him to stop tracing lines into her skin and reached up to take his hand in hers instead.

“One day, you will look back on this moment and remember the hurt, but then see the good that came from it and realize that it was well worth it all.” She smiled a little. “My mother told me that years and years ago.”

Din’s fingers tightened around hers, but he said nothing.

“She was so… wonderful. She would’ve loved you.” Omera smiled at the thought of her mother meeting the Mandalorian. She’d probably laugh that bright laugh of hers and challenge every word that he spoke. “She always told me I would find a man one day with stars in his eyes to match all of my ambitions.”

“Did you?”

She stared at Din for a moment. Her heart skipped a beat, frantic even though she knew the answer without needing even a second to think. Although she had never seen his face, she knew that she had indeed found a man with stars in his eyes.

“Yes. I found you.”

He released a soft breath- almost a gasp of surprise, like he couldn’t believe she felt this way for him.

“Every hardship that’s happened in my life led me straight to you,” Omera continued. “And I don’t regret any of it because meeting you… being with you…” She smiled more, admiring the Mandalorian in the darkness. “It’s made me so much stronger. I’m sure Grogu feels the same.”

When he spoke, his voice sounded fragile, “You’ve made me stronger, too.”

His mission with Ahsoka was a rousing success.

The townspeople were freed of their oppressive government, Ahsoka was free to do as she pleased, and to top it all off, he now had a spear of full beskar to add to his assortment of weapons on board the Crest.

But, it was the end. The Jedi wanted to see the Child, and she would take him to train him in the ways of their kind.

Slowly, Din climbed the ramp up to check on the sleeping boy. Once he stood in the cargo hold, he discovered that Omera and Winta sat out waiting for his return.

Omera had a sorrowful look in her eyes that Winta mirrored.

“Is it done?” Omera asked.

He nodded his head once. “I need to bring him to her now.”

His stomach twisted sourly. If this was goodbye, he needed to make it quick. They’d both get over this, in time.

“Winta, let’s go sit in the cockpit,” Omera suggested quietly. She seemed so aware of what he needed: time alone with the kid.

Without needing any other push, Winta and Omera went up the ladder to the cockpit, leaving him with nothing but his thoughts and the child he’d fought to protect time and time again.

Din approached the hammock and realized he couldn’t be upset when he found that he was still asleep. He nudged the hammock, trying to wake him peacefully.

“Wake up, buddy,” he murmured. “It’s time to say goodbye.”

Grogu stirred, his eyes opening briefly, but sleep found him again, and Din sighed softly with a smile on his lips.

Eventually, Grogu whined and Din took the opportunity to lift him into his arms. Leaning back against the nook, he stared down at his son. Grogu took his finger and held it. His eyes opened a little bit more this time.

“Hey, Grogu.” Din grinned when Grogu’s ears perked at the sound of his name. “Hey, kid.”

Grogu hummed and his eyes slid shut, but Din didn’t begrudge him for wanting more rest. Instead, he held his son tighter and wished that the moment could last longer.

After a couple of minutes that stretched into dozens more, Grogu finally flexed his fingers into his palms and opened his eyes once more.

“You ready now, buddy?” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I promised I’d take you to a Jedi… so, that’s what I’m gonna do. Okay?”

The Child stared at him blankly.

“You don’t belong with me. You belong with your kind.” It felt like a lie. “It’s time to go.”

He brought the Child away from the sleeping nook slowly. Stopping at a nearby crate, he prepared him for the small journey to town. Fussing over him seemed to come naturally, he mused, and he began to wonder if it was instinct.

Just as he was about ready to take Grogu back to Ahsoka, he turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. It seemed he didn’t need to go back to town after all.

Din lifted the Child into his arm again and allowed him to hold onto two of his fingers as he descended the ramp to get closer to the Jedi.

“You’re like a father to him,” Ahsoka said gently. With a deep, steadying breath, she looked from Grogu and back up at Din. “I cannot train him.”

He hadn’t come all this way to hear such a thing, but there was hope that beat idly within him anyway. Maybe, if she just saw the kid do one more Jedi thing. Maybe if he could show her what he did to the Mudhorn...

“You made me a promise, and I held up my end.”

Ahsoka’s gaze shifted to Grogu and she took a few steps forward as she thought about something. She reached out to rub a finger over the Child's.

“There is one possibility. Go to the planet Tython.” She looked up at Din. “There you will find the ancient ruins of a temple that has a strong connection to the Force. Place Grogu on the seeing stone at the top of the mountain.”

“Then what?”

“Then Grogu may choose his path. If he reaches out through the Force, there’s a chance a Jedi may sense his presence and come searching for him.” The Jedi folded her arms against her chest. “Then again, there aren’t many Jedi left.”

Grogu babbled sadly.

She looked up at Din again, as if she could sense something. Her gaze shifted once more, to the ship just beyond him. Turning, he saw Omera standing at the top of the ramp on her own, watching the exchange.

“Thank you.”

Ahsoka took a step backwards, away from the Crest, and lifted a hand. “May the Force be with you.”

Din held Grogu just a little bit tighter as he turned away from Corvus and the Jedi on the ground. Omera gave him a tender smile and reached out to touch his arm as the door sealed itself shut.

“Guess there’s still at least one more stop. Tython.”

She nodded. “I heard.”

Together, he and Omera made their way back up to the cockpit of the Razor Crest. In silence and with a comfortable ease, he settled Grogu into Winta’s open arms and climbed into the pilot’s chair to begin preparations for takeoff.

They would have one more stop on this journey. It almost seemed like it would never end, but part of him was glad that they had more time.

Fear of the unknown path ahead of him could be pushed aside for a few more days, until the Jedi came for the kid. Then, Din would have to decide where the path was and what he would do next.

Once they broke the atmosphere into space, he heard Omera shift. Her chair squeaked just a little as it pivoted.

“Winta, would you please take Grogu with you down below? I need to talk to Din.”

His heart leapt. She wanted to speak with him alone? What for?

He turned around to face his passengers. Omera nodded gently to her daughter, silently asking her to leave. The girl stood to her feet with Grogu tucked beneath her arms and stepped out of the cockpit.

Once the door slid closed behind the children, Din focused on Omera.

“What’s going on?”

In her eyes, he saw something he’d seen a few times before: her secret.

She was interrupted by Winta the last time she almost told him. Now, they wouldn’t have any interruptions.

“I said I would tell you something when we found the Jedi. Can I tell you now?”

He swallowed the freshly formed lump in his throat and nodded just barely enough to be registered.

“Yes.”

Omera sat forward in her seat with her hands clasped together in her lap. She seemed confident, but at the same time, he saw nervousness in the way she breathed. She silently debated what to say before speaking, and when she did, she kept her focus on him.

“I’ve wanted to tell you since you came to Sorgan, but I keep getting tongue tied.” A soft, tender look filled her features. “I’m expecting a baby.”

His heart leapt and his stomach lurched. “You’re…”

She straightened out in her seat and settled her hand against her midsection, revealing to him a gentle swell of her belly.

How had he not noticed? How had he not noticed?

Looking away from her hand over her body, Omera met his gaze once more.

“Ahsoka told me that she could feel him in the Force.” An excited smile spread wide, crinkling beside her eyes with the purest form of joy. “She said it’s a boy. He’s healthy and strong.”

A baby. A boy. Omera was pregnant.

How had he not noticed?

Din felt almost lightheaded as the brunt of the reality of it hit him with full force. She had been with him for a few weeks and hadn’t uttered a word about it to him.

Should he be offended? Concerned? Angry? Happy?

How the hell had he not noticed?

Moments from their time traveling together flashed through his mind one after the next. Near-death experience after near-death experience. Danger after danger. Fight after fight.

Guilt cascaded over him in a hard wave.

Omera’s smile faded as time ticked on. “I know it must be surprising for you to learn. I was surprised when I found out, too. I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to have another child. He’s already changed my life so much.”

As much as he wanted to be happy for Omera as her friend, there were so many darker thoughts in the way of that. He was angry that he’d put her into situations that were so risky. Angry that she hadn’t told him the truth beforehand.

Angry at the betrayal he felt for loving someone who didn’t feel the same. There wasn’t any chance that he had anything to do with her child after only one night with her. There must have been someone else. Right?

He closed his eyes and his head fell. He didn’t know how to ask her if she was committed to another without breaking his own heart.

“Is…” He paused, hating the way his voice cracked. “Is it... mine?”

“Oh,” she gasped out of surprise, “Din, yes, of course.” Her voice was breathless, weighed down with a sense of relief. “How could I have been with someone else?”

His heart rate doubled at her admission. She hadn’t been with another. He was the one Winta had told him about on Trask: the one her heart chose. It wasn’t a surprise to him, but it did fill in some of the uncertainties he felt.

“Omera, you could’ve been hurt. You could’ve…”

His chest began to heave. The thought of losing Omera hurt more than even the thought of losing Grogu.

“I knew what I was getting into coming with you, Din.”

“I know, but I didn’t know that you were-” Din cut himself off when he realized his voice was raised. He sighed heavily. “I put you in danger.”

She shook her head swiftly. “I don’t blame you for any of it. We’re all okay.”

He couldn't shake the anger off of him for putting her in danger. It had been part of the agreement when she came along, but she hadn't told him ahead of time about her child. He could've done more to keep her safe.

“When we were still on Sorgan, you could have told me.”

Omera's focus went to her lap for a moment. “I didn’t know if telling you would’ve made you want to stay. I didn’t want it to force you to. You are on a path with Grogu to find his kind. A path I wasn’t on until you asked me to come with you.”

His chest began to ache when he realized just how much she cared for him. Without knowing how he felt for her, he imagined it would have been difficult to admit her secret to him. Allowing him to continue on his path for the Jedi had been a selfless act, even if it may have been a shortsighted one.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” There was a worried frown on her lips and her eyes were filled with sorrow and regret, but she didn’t beg or plead. “If this changes how you feel about me, about our future… I understand. I haven’t been honest with you.”

Suddenly, she stood up in front of him. She took one of his hands into hers and settled it over her middle. He could feel the curve of her body. It was so very real.

His breath caught in his throat. He felt hot, as if the armor he wore was suffocating him, but it was the only thing keeping him from absolutely breaking down.

“This child is yours. If you want him.”

At her words, the weight of the day came crashing down on him. He’d almost had to let go of the kid, and now he had so much more than he thought he’d ever be given.

Somehow, he’d been given Omera. Beautiful, kind, gentle, Omera. And after just one night together, he’d been given a child. His own flesh and blood. A boy, if the Jedi was right. His son.

“If not…” Omera managed a weak smile and lifted a shoulder. “That’s okay. Winta and I can return to Sorgan. I’ll keep the baby safe and he’ll be loved. You can visit if you want to.”

Din stared at her from behind the haze of his visor and suddenly, it felt like he was playing a game. Wearing his armor in front of Omera felt like a child’s game. What purpose did it serve him to cover his face from her?

She was his equal. The one his heart belonged to. The one who carried his child.

If there were Mandalorians who didn’t need to wear their helmets in order to stay faithful to the creed, he could bend the rules and step across the line for Omera. Of everyone in the universe, she deserved to know him wholly.

He pulled his hand away from her body and decisively stood so that they were on equal footing. She stared up at him with an edge of uncertainty in the depths of her eyes.

The last thing he wanted was for her to be unsure about how he felt about her, or about their future.

Din settled both hands on either side of his helmet. Slowly, he lifted it from his head and lowered it to rest on the console beside him.

With the helmet removed, he could breathe freely. Cool air entered his lungs through his nose in deep, steady breaths that he forced himself to take.

All at once, he felt just as terrifyingly bare and exposed as he had on Nevarro with the IG unit. Anxious and self-conscious thoughts flooded his mind, but he quieted them when his focus settled on her.

Somehow, she was more beautiful to him, seen without obstruction. He could see more clearly the roundness of her belly, a sign of his child growing within her, and cursed himself again for not seeing it any sooner.

Omera seemed overwhelmed by his choice to remove his helmet- just as much as he was. Unshed tears gathered in her eyes and the softest gasp escaped her parted lips.

“I love you, Omera.” His voice was barely a whisper. It embarrassed him, how fragile he sounded, but she could see him as he was, truly, and it was everything all at once.

Hesitantly, she reached out for him with one hand. Her fingers were cool when they ever so softly grazed his cheek and his eyes shut instantly at the feeling. Invisible sparks lit up on his skin like fireworks that made his heart jump in surprise.

Slowly, her fingers slid upwards, until her palm rested over his cheek, and he leaned his weight into her hand. He opened his eyes again to meet her gaze.

Omera tilted her head and offered him a tender smile, just as fragile as he felt. “I love you too, Din.”

As if she knew it was too much to handle all at once, she lowered her hand away from his face and settled it against her middle instead.

Everything felt different. Everything felt new. Changed. The world he’d made for himself had been shattered in the best, most terrifying way. He and Omera were going to have a baby. They were going to be a family.

He took a moment to admire her, each pretty eyelash, every freckle, each breath she took that lifted her chest. It was different, in a good way, seeing her so freely.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Do you need anything? Do you feel sick?”

Omera laughed out of surprise. “No, I’m fine.” She soothed a hand over her bump. “The worst of the sickness is over.” With a soft sigh, she added, “I feel so much better now that you know, too.”

There would be so much that they’d have to decide. Where they would go. What they would do next. How they would raise the kids. But all he could think about was her, and how he wished he could give her the entire universe.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

He shook his head, unsure what she meant. “About what?”

“This is a lot all at once… I would understand if you were overwhelmed.” She drew in a breath and averted her gaze, looking instead at the floor. “The day you left Sorgan, I thought it might have been partly because of me… because you weren’t sure what to do-”

He settled his hands over her hips and Omera timidly peered up at him.

“It is the Way to have a family,” Din told her. “Children are important. I didn’t think I’d ever have any of my own, though. It’s easier to travel alone.”

She nodded in understanding. Hope shined in her eyes brighter than it had before. “It was meant to be.” Her smile spread. “I’m so excited to meet him. I think he’ll be a lot like you.”

He felt his eyes grow wide with even the thought. It was hard to wrap his mind around the idea of what their child would look like, or act like. It was different for Omera. She’d had the experience with Winta and knew what to expect.

“I hope he’s more like you. Not me.”

Omera tilted her head with an affectionate smile. “We’ll see soon enough.”

His hands shifted on her hips and he squeezed as his thoughts shifted to the path that laid ahead of them. The Jedi had told him to take Grogu to Tython. Could he do that now? Did Omera want to do that now?

“Should we go back to Sorgan?” he asked. “If Gideon’s after the kid, it’s dangerous traveling with me.”

Omera frowned. She pressed both hands against his heart and he reached up to hold each hand, almost instinctively.

“We found the Jedi, but the journey isn’t over.”

“No.” He searched her eyes and thought about the way Grogu had so easily accepted Omera into his life. “You’re like a mother to him.”

“I know. I’ve felt it too.” Omera softened some. “If you want to take us to Sorgan, we’ll be alright waiting for you to come home to us.”

Home. He’d had to find his home on the Razor Crest the past few months, with the kid. Now, he’d have to figure out what home looked like with Omera, Winta, and, eventually, a newborn.

Overwhelmed, he lowered the crown of his head to hers and shut his eyes. She reached up to the back of his head and threaded her fingers through his hair, her fingernails scraping lightly against his scalp as she went.

As he considered next steps, he knew that he needed to be careful, but Omera had proven herself capable in dangerous situations. She’d been an active participant in several fights, eager to help in whatever way she could, all while secretly pregnant. He’d become stronger because of her help. Together, they were a powerful team.

If what Ahsoka told him was the final step in finding a Jedi that could train Grogu, there wouldn’t be much left to their journey. And if Gideon was out there, they could work together to protect what was theirs.

“You should come with us,” he told her. “Grogu would like that.”

“And when it’s over, what will we do?”

He shook his head. “We’ll… figure it out. We’ll be a family. All of us. If that’s what you want.”

Din pulled back from her just enough to meet her eyes. She lowered her palm to his face again and caressed his cheek with her thumb.

“I want that very much.”

It filled him with so much hope knowing that she loved him.

“Me too.”

A happy smile found her lips. “I'm glad.”

Their eyes locked in a way that they hadn’t since that night on Sorgan, with a silent fire burning within each of them. He couldn’t help the thought that came to him next: he could kiss her if he wanted to.

He had never kissed anyone in his life, but something about the moment made it feel right. He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.

It almost felt like time itself slowed to a stop. Maybe it did. Just for them.

Pulling back, he kept his eyes shut and put his forehead against hers. Omera’s hand gently found his neck.

“You have given me so much,” she murmured with regret in her tone. “I don’t want you to sacrifice your creed as well. I never saw your face. Put your helmet back on.”

Din shook his head. He pulled away so their eyes could meet. “I want you to know me like this.”

Omera still seemed hesitant. Her fingers caressed his face, running over the curves and lines of him as if she wanted to memorize what he looked like. Each touch felt like a reviving spark that lit his heart up with the brightest light.

She pulled her hand from his face when she was done.

“There was a time I believed I would have been content never seeing your face.” Her dimples popped when she smiled at him. “But I’ll admit that I’m thankful I know who you are beneath.”

His heart leapt. “Does it give you hope that our child won’t be a monster?”

Omera’s gaze fell to her middle and the smile on her face spread. She laughed and it was one of the sweetest sounds he'd ever heard.

“I wasn’t worried, but… yes.”

Din admired Omera again. She was everything to him.

When he lifted his helmet into his hands, it felt strangely heavy. He hesitated with it, studying Omera one last time unobstructed by the visor’s haze.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Having heard her voice once more, saying those precious words, he resolved that it was time to put the helmet back on, so he did.

He didn’t know what the future held for him other than what stood before him. The idea had scared him before, the uncertainty of what he’d do once the Child was safe with his kind, but now, a different fear found him.

Would he be able to live as a Mandalorian within this newfound family? Could he provide for them? Keep them safe?

No matter where he would find his path leading him, he could only hope that he would be enough for Omera. For Winta. For his child.

#mandomera #din x omera #the mandalorian #my writing #the edge of hope #it's time to meet a jedi!#this chap is aka: The Big One

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sepublic · 3 years

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GROGU

Honestly this name just feels SO right when put alongside the names of Yoda and Yaddle... I wonder how long the creators deliberated over formulating just the RIGHT, perfect name...! Succinct with that simple, Star Wars feel...! Also, Grogu makes me think of Grogurt, as in Go-Gurt. I kind of want to see a promotion for The Mandalorian by Go-Gurt now, just for this pun lol! Anyhow RIP to Baby Yoda and Yodito now, it was good while it lasted but we respect Grogu’s name here, if that’s what he responds to then we’ll give him something to hear!

Also, LOVE the setting here! Felt like some sort of... dark, haunted wood where rangers roam, the aesthetic was impeccable and mixed well with this sci-fi future, there was pure silence at multiple points and utter tension built, I love it! Lang was also lowkey a mood at times and I wondered if he was going to pull a Hol Horse, and just... drop the tense act and immediately cut to running with no shame whatsoever! He should’ve done that... Wonder what happened to the Magistrate, anyhow? Will Grogu connect with Luke or Ezra? Does Thrawn have any connections to Gideon, or is this just the set-up for a spin-off series? Maybe the show will take that route Luke almost did in The Last Jedi, and have Grogu just let the force come and pass so he can live a simple life with Dad! Love that scene of Mando being a pure dad and proud of his kid, and when I heard Grogu was back at the Razor Crest I lowkey freaked that he was captured by Gideon’s agents, but thankfully no...

#the mandalorian #Star Wars #the mandalorian season 2 spoilers #the mandalorian season 2 #spoilers #the mandalorian spoilers #grogu #baby yoda #yodito #Ahsoka tano #din djarin #thrawn

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thefloorisbalaclava · 3 years

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(Forgive me if I missed this in the masterlists but) our softest boy Frankie reacting to being proposed to? He wouldn’t understand why someone loved him that much and wanted forever with him???

Pairing: Francisco ‘Catfish’ Morales x Reader

Warnings: Some self-doubt but mostly fluff and making Frankie cry (happy tears).

A/N: Anon, I wanna let you know that I was in tears while thinking about this. It’s so sweet!

This is the ring I’m picturing (I just really love the ironwood)

[frankie masterlist][frankie masterlist pt. 2]

Frankie has never seen himself as the type of guy anyone would want to marry. Whether it was because of the issues he had in the past or just him--he never thought very highly of himself at all.

Until you came along, that is.

He smiles, he laughs, he enjoys life and it’s all thanks to you. You show him his worth. You make him feel like something even on the days when he feels like nothing. His bad days have not completely gone away, but they’re easier to deal with since you’ve been in his life. So much so that he can hardly imagine his life without you now.

It’s the same for you. He has changed your life for the better even if he doesn’t know it. You know he still has a small part of that self-doubt that creeps up at the worst times, but you are always there to remind him that you love him and nothing will ever change that.

He wonders how he got so lucky and you wonder how you got so lucky. Some days you look at him and the sun is shining on him a certain way and all you can think is “wow, he’s mine.” Every part of him--from those lovely brown curls, to those stunning brown eyes, to the strong nose that has become your favorite, to the soft, pouty lips that you can never kiss enough. His dimples, his tummy. Him. Every part of him has become something you can’t live without.

He doesn’t know you’ve been going to the jeweler. He doesn’t know that Santi has been helping you. He doesn’t know that you want to marry him.

The thing is, you both know that you don’t have to be married to be happy or complete. You two have been together long enough that people probably think you’re married already anyway, but there is something that makes you want to put a ring on that man’s finger. You want to see the look on his face as you get on one knee and tell him that you want to spend the rest of your life with him. He deserves it.

You look at the ring you had custom made for him and tears fill your eyes already. Santiago rubs your back and asks if you’re okay and you tell him you’re more than okay.

The day is here. The sun is just setting and there is a light breeze that blows.

You watch Frankie as he stands at the grill, drinking a beer and talking animatedly with Santiago as he flips burgers and hot dogs with the other hand without looking. He looks back at you and winks and you blow a kiss--heart pounding, the weight of the small box in your pocket feeling heavier by the minute.

Suddenly, he’s walking over with Santiago and you sit up straight.

“Burger. Medium well for my baby,” he says, handing you a plate. You take the plate from him then grab his hand so he doesn’t walk away.

“Frankie...”

“What’s wrong? You need more ketchup?” he asks. Santiago walks over and turns off the music and everyone else quiets down. They all know. “Babe, what’s going on?”

You stand and laugh nervously as you look around at everyone and then back at Frankie. You try your best not to cry, but as soon as you start talking the tears do as well.

“I love you,” you start.

“I love you too, baby.” Frankie smiles awkwardly then looks around at everyone.

“I’m not sure if you know this but you saved my life,” you tell him. “You always tell me how I saved yours but you have to know that my life hasn’t been the same since you walked into it all those years ago. And I’m grateful.” You take a deep breath. “I don’t know where I would be without you. There is no one else I wanna wake up next to every day, no one else I wanna get lost with...” He laughs at that with tears shining in his eyes.

“I love you, Francisco Morales, more than words can ever say. I want to be yours forever and I hope you want to be mine too.” You clear your throat and wipe the tears from your cheeks before getting on your knee and reaching into your pocket to pull out the small box. “Frankie baby...” He chuckles tearfully at your use of his favorite petname. “...will you marry me?”

He sniffles and shakes his head before letting out a sob that he tries to mask with his response. “Hell yeah,” he says with a smile and everyone cheers as you put the ring on his finger. He pulls you to your feet and kisses you, his tears mixing with yours. You both laugh tearfully as you pull away from the kiss. “I love you,” he whispers.

“I love you too.”

Later that night, Frankie is curled up against you staring at the ring on his finger. “Does this mean I take your last name too?” he asks.

“Do people do that? Is it possible?” you ask.

“I think I’ve heard of guys doing that. I’d take your name in a heartbeat,” he admits. “I never dreamed I’d be planning a wedding.”

“Me neither. Well...I actually already do have some ideas,” you confess.

“Oh, really?” He looks at you.

“Outdoors, for sure. At our favorite lake...and it’ll be in the evening so we can watch the sun set together like we always do. Then we can dance under the stars.”

“Some ideas, huh? Sounds like you have the entire wedding planned already,” he teases and you both laugh. “Sounds perfect to me.”

“I’d be fine just going to the court and signing a marriage license, honestly.”

“Me too but you know what? I kinda want a wedding,” he tells you. “I want to show you off. Show everyone just how lucky I am.”

“I think I’d be the one showing you off. Hey everyone! Look at the sexy man I’m marrying!” you yell and Frankie snorts, laughing against your neck. You have always loved the sound of his laugh. “I get to hear that for the rest of my life,” you sigh, tears filling your eyes again.

“I get you for the rest of my life,” he says, sniffling quietly. “I guess dreams really do come true even for guys like me.”

frankie taglist: @fakenoods @oldstuffnewstuff @the-bird-suit @lestrange2703 @findhimfives @windfallss @rach7 @surfsup666 @theghostwiththemost-babe @marshmallow–3 @mrschiltoncat @aplaceofpeace @josepedropascal @jeeperky @allthingsnarcos @laymegentlytorest @stanfordscrush @fangirlingss @nathan-bateman @darthdumbasss @helga1031 @master-obi-wan-kenboneme @heythere80sbaby @deserttastesbitter @dindjstarin @mandodjarinn @frankie-stein18 @funkylittlebisexuall @16boyfriends-and-me @marvelousmermaid @slugbuggie @ladyblogger-margie @queenbbarnes @dodgerandevans @terrormonster55 @queridopascal @hells-bells-x @allmahfeels @elizabeth-von-winken-universe @blackberries45 @darnitdraco @nemo-my-name-forevermore @dindjarinneedsahug @littlefairygirlx @wyn-dixie

permanent taglist: @magicsuperheroes @feelmyroarrrr @the-dazzling-urbanite @phoenixhalliwell @liveloudwriteloud @tumblogbykarapaloma @jaime1110 @ahopelessromanticwritersworld @pascal-isaac @dazedrhapsody @pascalisthepunkest @ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa @tiffdawg @freak-of-nature2002 @kingpascals @saltywintersoldat @theocatkov @mandilflorian @cyaredindjarin @themarcusmoreno @the-feckless-wonder @loki-098 @arabellathorne @dindisneydjarin @punkpascal @opheliaelysia @takens-world @huliabitch @stardelic @kandomeresbitch @havenforafrazzledmind @thisis-theway @stardust-galaxies @mrsparknuts @jedi-mando @frankiemorales @edencherries @lilkermit14 @virtualxjournality @thirstworldproblemss @emesispo @heresathreebee @tangledlove27 @marvgrrl @hayley-the-comet @insoucianttt @witchyavenger @coaaster @starless-eyes-remain @wanderlustmags @wonderfulfluffer @lv7867 @pedropasscals @pedroepascal @wigwitch @seasonschange-butpeopledont @theoria850 @roxypeanut @autumnleaves1991-blog @kenedyybrooklin @artsymaddie @dindjareen @silverfish-kingdom @heyitmelexie @gredandfeorgesgirl @mandaloriandindjarin @moonlight-prose @rosiefridayrogersunday @ssppoorrkk @amalie-buch @lucifer- @mstgsmy @randomness501 @darthadeline @youarenewformetoo @thehippiequilter @whovian-gurl @neverlandlibrarian @chibi-liz05 @dragons-of-the-usa @over300books @borderlinedindjarin @mudhornchronicles @cosmoschick @linkpk88 @lovingramsey @djvrins @escapedthesarlacc @coni-martina @pedrospunk @burrshottfirstt @jitterbugs927 @xserenax-13 @anatanotegami @doin-stuff @djarinsruni @aerolanya @icanbeyourjedi @bison-writes @strangelittlenobody @dinsbeskar @sarahjkl82-blog @neontiiger @houseofthirst @intu-witch-tion @ennuiandthebourgeoisie @littlebopper96 @boxdyeblonde @empressamidala @myheart-pedro @mtjoi @purplepascal042 @goalkeepernerd @rebelliouscat @leaiorganas @eternallyvenus @mandocrest @kellyozz @the-wishmonger @maythxthirstbxwithyou @andiebell2023 @moonlightburned @videogamesandpoorlifechoices @leonieb @freeshavocadoooo @auroraariza @kalimont83 @notabotiswear @martellthemandalor @beesting77 @medeasmiles @diaryofkali @mando-amando @venusdjarin @mystical-934 @blackmarketmummy @hauntedmama @mamacitapascal @insomniamamma @pedro4ever @greeneyedblondie44 @mitchi-c @prideandpascal @sleep-tight1 @noromeojuliet

#frankie baby #frankie morales #francisco 'catfish' morales #headcanon #Anonymous

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shadowmaat · 4 years

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The Ade of the Mand’alor

New AU idea I’m playing with. I know I already have one where Jango and Obi-Wan steal the clones together, but this time around Jango does the stealing on his own and Obi-Wan is sent to investigate. Things go about how you’d expect with a Kenobi on the case. ;)

Obi-Wan Kenobi, currently going by the name Rez Tavers, took another sip of his drink and leaned back, surveying the dim cantina. It had been over a month since he’d been sent undercover to investigate rumors that Jango Fett was raising an army, and he was beginning to think it was nothing but spice smoke. Each lead evaporated, and witness accounts didn’t add up. It might be time to admit defeat and head back to Coruscant. The Council would be disappointed with him, but that wasn’t anything new.

A shadow moved and he glanced up to find an armored figure standing beside his booth. There were a few orange markings on the otherwise black armor. The style was vaguely Mandalorian, though the sound of the plates shifting against each other didn’t sound like beskar.

“Word is you’ve been looking for some trouble,” the figure said. Masculine, and with a lilt that sounded strongly of Concord Dawn.

“What kind of trouble are you offering?” Smiling, Obi-Wan let his gaze wander over the man. The armor blended in a little too well with the dim interior of the cantina, but it was still clear that he was heavily armed. No jetpack, though; perhaps he hadn’t earned it yet.

The man sat across from him, the tilt of his helmet somehow managing to convey disapproval.

“If you’re looking to knock boots, you’ll have better luck at the Writhing Ahwey,” the stranger said. “But if you’re looking to knock heads, I may know someone who can help.”

“I’m listening.” Obi-Wan leaned forward.

“Your credentials check out.” The man slid a datapuck over to him. “Buir wants to know your intentions first, though.” His helmet tilted toward his chest, the shadows lending it a serious cast. “We’re not a bunch of mindless mercenaries, after all.”

“Of course not.” Obi-Wan checked the puck, hoping his contact hadn’t noticed the way his eyes widened at the word buir. It was Mando’a for “parent,” which meant this wasn’t Jango himself, and that the information they had on his “army” was missing some essential information.

“You’ll find the coordinates for the rendezvous…”

Obi-Wan glanced up at the sudden silence. His contact had gone rigid and was reaching for one of his holsters.

“Dar’jetii.”

Sith. Obi-Wan glanced toward the entrance as a wave of cold washed through the Force. Standing there was an older man, human, his white hair and beard trimmed to perfection. Obi-Wan’s heart stopped. No. It couldn’t be. Master Dooku had left the Order, but he wouldn’t… he couldn’t possibly have Fallen.

“If you want to live long enough to make it to those coordinates, you’ll do as I say.”

Before he could respond, Dooku looked their way. He could feel the darkness pressing in on his mind, and was grateful for the training that let him shrug it off.

Across the table from him, the pseudo-Mando swore, firing off three quick shots at Dooku. If there’d been any doubt about the former Jedi’s alignment, the sudden appearance of a crimson blade settled it.

Patrons screamed and dove for cover as Dooku deflected the shots, stalking towards them as he did.

Obi-Wan reached for his saber and found a blaster instead. Right. Rez Tavers wasn’t a Jedi. He lifted the blaster as the pseudo-Mando stood, firing more shots at Dooku. A quick look revealed a dusty stuffed dune lizard hanging from the rafters. He fired a couple of shots, sending the trophy crashing towards Dooku, who was forced to duck out of the way.

“This way!”

His companion made a run for the kitchen. Obi-Wan started to follow.

“The puck!” He turned, calling it to his hand before running through the doors into the kitchen.

Cooks shouted in a mix of languages, but Obi-Wan ignored them, intent on the dark-armored figure ahead of him. A blaster shot and a solid kick sent the outside door flying open and they exited into a dim alley.

“Stop right there!” A metallic voice ordered, and Obi-Wan felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise; he hadn’t heard that sound since Naboo.

“Clankers. Of kriffin’ course.” His companion produced a second blaster and opened fire. Obi-Wan joined him as they shot their way through a group of B-1 battle droids and out to the street. A speeder bike painted over in flames stood nearby.

“Get on!”

Obi-Wan didn’t need to be told twice. He hopped on the back and then hung on for dear life as the bike surged forward, swinging wildly through the crowded streets without ever managing to hit anyone. His heart was racing and his hands, pressed against what felt like a plastoid-armored stomach, could feel heat radiating outward. He really needed to learn this man’s name at some point.

“Are all your first dates this exciting?” He had to shout the question, but didn’t get any response. It was probably for the best. Between the adrenaline rush and perhaps a little too much of the local rotgut his tongue was, perhaps, just a little looser than it should have been. But damn, that had been some impressive marksmanship and he’d already had an alternate exit planned. Competency was one of his weaknesses.

A ship loomed ahead, parked at the edge of the public lot. The ramp extended as they approached, and rather than stop, his companion rode the bike right into the ship before hopping off.

“Rex! We got company!”

“I noticed,” came the reply from the cockpit. The ramp was already closing and as Obi-Wan dismounted he could feel the hum of the engines through the cargo deck. The man who’d just saved his life pulled his helmet off and turned to look at him.

“Looks like we’ll be escorting you to that rendezvous.”

He smiled as he said it and somehow, Obi-Wan’s heart managed to beat a little faster. He had dark tan skin and warm, golden brown eyes. His hair was wavy and black and there was a bit of stubble on his face. He looked almost exactly like the images of Jango Fett, but at least ten years younger and still soft around the edges.

Oh, no, Obi-Wan thought.

“I’m Kote Mereel.” The man offered his hand. “Welcome aboard.”

Oh, no. The thought bore repeating. Obi-Wan was in so, so much trouble.

#jedimindfic #codywan #eventually anyway #if this continues

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aaronmaurer · 3 years

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TV I Liked in 2020

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

Was there ever a year more unpredictably tailor-made for peak TV than 2020? Lockdowns/quarantines/stay-at-home orders meant a lot more time at home and the occasion to check out new and old favorites. (I recognize that if you’re lucky enough to have kids or roommates or a S.O., your amount of actual downtime may have been wildly different). While the pandemic resulted in production delays and truncated seasons for many shows, the continued streaming-era trends of limited series and 8-13 episode seasons mean that a lot of great and satisfying storytelling still made its way to the screen. As always, I in no way lay any claims to “best-ness” or completeness – this is just a list of the shows that brought me the most joy and escapism in a tough year and therefore might be worth putting on your radar.

10 Favorites

10. The Right Stuff: Season 1 (Disney+)

As a space program enthusiast, even I had to wonder, does the world really need another retelling of NASA’s early days? Especially since Tom Wolfe’s book has already been adapted as the riveting and iconoclastic Philip Kaufman film of the same name? While some may disagree, I find that this Disney+ series does justify its existence by focusing more on the relationships of the astronauts and their personal lives than the technical science (which may be partially attributable to budget limitations?). The series is kind of like Mad Men but with NASA instead of advertising (and real people, of course), so if that sounds intriguing, I encourage you to give it a whirl.

9. Fargo: Season 4 (FX)

As a big fan of Noah Hawley’s Coen Brothers pastiche/crime anthology series, I was somewhat let down by this latest season. Drawing its influence primarily from the likes of gangster drama Miller’s Crossing – one of the Coens’ least comedic/idiosyncratic efforts – this season is more straightforward than its predecessors and includes a lot of characters and plot-threads that never quite cohere. That said, it is still amongst the year’s most ambitious television with another stacked cast, and the (more-or-less) standalone episode “East/West” is enough to make the season worthwhile.

8. The Last Dance (ESPN)

Ostensibly a 10-episode documentary about the 1990s Chicago Bulls’ sixth and final NBA Championship run, The Last Dance actually broadens that scope to survey the entire history of Michael Jordan and coach Phil Jackson’s careers with the team. Cleverly structured with twin narratives that chart that final season as well as an earlier timeframe, each episode also shifts the spotlight to a different person, which provides focus and variety throughout the series. And frankly, it’s also just an incredible ride to relive the Jordan era and bask in his immeasurable talent and charisma – while also getting a snapshot of his outsized ego and vices (though he had sign-off on everything, so it’s not exactly a warts-and-all telling).

7. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

This miniseries adaptation of the Walter Tevis coming-of-age novel about a chess prodigy and her various addictions is compulsively watchable and avoids the bloat of many other streaming series (both in running time and number of episodes). The 1960s production design is stunning and the performances, including Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role, are convincing and compelling.

6. The Great: Season 1 (hulu)

Much like his screenplay for The Favourite, Tony McNamara’s series about Catherine the Great rewrites history with a thoroughly modern and irreverent sensibility (see also: Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette). Elle Fanning brings a winning charm and strength to the title role and Nicholas Hoult is riotously entertaining as her absurdly clueless and ribald husband, Emperor Peter III. Its 10-episodes occasionally tilt into repetitiveness, but when the ride is this fun, why complain? Huzzah!

5. Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC)

A limited (but possibly anthology-to-be?) series from creator/writer/director/actor Jason Segal, Dispatches From Elsewhere is a beautiful and creative affirmation of life and celebration of humanity. The first 9 episodes form a fulfilling and complete arc, while the tenth branches into fourth wall-breaking meta territory, which may be a bridge too far for some (but is certainly ambitious if nothing else). Either way, it’s a movingly realized portrait of honesty, vulnerability and empathy, and I highly recommend visiting whenever it inevitably makes its way to Netflix, or elsewhere…

4. What We Do in the Shadows: Season 2 (FX)

The second season of WWDITS is more self-assured and expansive than the first, extending a premise I loved from its antecedent film – but was skeptical could be sustained – to new and reinvigorated (after)life. Each episode packs plenty of laughs, but for my money, there is no better encapsulation of the series’ potential and Matt Berry’s comic genius than “On The Run,” which guest-stars Mark Hamill and features Laszlo’s alter ego Jackie Daytona, regular human bartender.

3. Ted Lasso: Season 1 (AppleTV+)

Much more than your average fish-out-of-water comedy, Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso is a brilliant tribute to humaneness, decency, emotional intelligence and good coaching – not just on the field. The fact that its backdrop is English Premier League Soccer is just gravy (even if that’s not necessarily represented 100% proficiently). A true surprise and gem of the year.

2. Mrs. America (hulu)

This FX miniseries explores the women’s liberation movement and fight for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and its opposition by conservative women including Phyllis Schlafly. One of the most ingenious aspects of the series is centering each episode on a different character, which rotates the point of view and helps things from getting same-y. With a slate of directors including Ryan Bowden and Anna Fleck (Half-Nelson, Sugar, Captain Marvel) and an A-List cast including Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Sarah Paulson, Margo Martindale, Tracey Ulman and Elizabeth Banks, its quality is right up there with anything on the big screen. And its message remains (sadly) relevant as ever in our current era.

1. The Good Place: Season 4 (NBC)

It was tempting to omit The Good Place this year or shunt it to a side category since only the final 4 episodes aired in 2020, but that would have been disingenuous. This show is one of my all-time favorites and it ended perfectly. The series finale is a representative mix of absurdist humor and tear-jerking emotion, built on themes of morality, self-improvement, community and humanity. (And this last run of eps also includes a pretty fantastic Timothy Olyphant/Justified quasi-crossover.) Now that the entire series is available to stream on Netflix (or purchase in a nice Blu-ray set), it’s a perfect time to revisit the Good Place, or check it out for the first time if you’ve never had the pleasure.

5 of the Best Things I Caught Up With

Anne With An E (Netflix/CBC)

Another example of classic literature I had no prior knowledge of (see also Little Women and Emma), this Netflix/CBC adaptation of Anne of Green Gables was strongly recommended by several friends so I finally gave it a shot. While this is apparently slightly more grown-up than the source material, it’s not overly grimdark or self-serious but rather humane and heartfelt, expanding the story’s scope to include Black and First Nations peoples in early 1800s Canada, among other identities and themes. It has sadly been canceled, but the three seasons that exist are heart-warming and life-affirming storytelling. Fingers crossed that someday we’ll be gifted with a follow-up movie or two to tie up some of the dangling threads.

Better Call Saul (AMC)

I liked Breaking Bad, but I didn’t have much interest in an extended “Breaking Bad Universe,” as much as I appreciate star Bob Odenkirk’s multitalents. Multiple recommendations and lockdown finally provided me the opportunity to catch up on this prequel series and I’m glad I did. Just as expertly plotted and acted as its predecessor, the series follows Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman on his own journey to disrepute but really makes it hard not to root for his redemption (even as you know that’s not where this story ends).

Joe Pera Talks With You (Adult Swim)

It’s hard to really describe the deadpan and oddly soothing humor of comedian Joe Pera whose persona, in the series at least, combines something like the earnestness of Mr. Rogers with the calm enthusiasm of Bob Ross. Sharing his knowledge on the likes of how to get the best bite out of your breakfast combo, growing a bean arch and this amazing song “Baba O’Reilly” by the Who – have you heard it?!? – Pera provides arch comfort that remains solidly on the side of sincerity. The surprise special he released during lockdown, “Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera,” was a true gift in the middle of a strange and isolated year.

The Mandalorian (Disney+)

One of the few recent Star Wars properties that lives up to its potential, the adventures of Mando and Grogu is a real thrill-ride of a series with outstanding production values (you definitely want to check out the behind-the-scenes documentary series if you haven’t). I personally prefer the first season, appreciating its Western-influenced vibes and somewhat-more-siloed story. The back half of the second season veers a little too much into fan service and video game-y plotting IMHO but still has several excellent episodes on offer, especially the Timothy Olyphant-infused energy of premiere “The Marshall” and stunning cinematography of “The Jedi.” And, you know, Grogu.

The Tick (Amazon Prime)

I’ve been a fan of the Tick since the character’s Fox cartoon and indie comic book days and also loved the short-lived Patrick Warburton series from 2001. I was skeptical about this Amazon Prime reboot, especially upon seeing the pilot episode’s off-putting costumes. Finally gaining access to Prime this year, I decided to catch up and it gets quite good!, especially in Season 2. First, the costumes are upgraded; second, Peter Serafinowicz’s initially shaky characterization improves; and third, it begins to come into its own identity. The only real issue is yet another premature cancellation for the property, meaning Season 2’s tease of interdimensional alien Thrakkorzog will never be fulfilled. 😢

Bonus! 5 More Honorable Mentions:

City So Real (National Geographic)

The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)

How To with John Wilson: Season 1 (HBO)

Kidding: Season 2 (Showtime)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs The Reverend (Netflix)

#tv #television

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legobiwan · 4 years

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Just got home from The Rise of Skywalker. No pithy intro, I’m just going to jump right in and it’s going to be a LONG rant here so buckle up, my friends, and be sure to read below the cut. SPOILERS AHOY YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Okay, so yes, the first third of the movie went at a blistering, nearly nonsensical pace. JJ really had to cram a whole watermelon’s worth of exposition into a...well, you know, there was a lot to take in. This movie had to do so much telling instead of showing because it was such a departure (and middle finger to TLJ) from what came before.

The thing was, the first third was also the most interesting part of the movie. I actually wish the whole trilogy had started with all of the Sith nonsense. (Actually, I wish they had started with Kylo absolutely wrecking shit like he did and then the Palpatine scene. People would have made all the wrong assumptions and it would have been glorious to unravel it over three films.) There is a strong history of Sith artifacts in both Nu-Canon and Legends, and it wouldn’t have been out of place, considering what we know now, to have made Rey, Poe, and Finn’s quest for these artifacts the start of the new trilogy, and then told the rest of the story in a non-linear timeline. Probably too experimental for a Star Wars reboot, but it would have grabbed attention and everyone like creepy Sith shit.

Frankly, I would have dropped zombie-robot Palpatine at the very start of the trilogy, as well. It’s bonkers but I don’t hate the Rey Palpatine thing and they could have spent the rest fo the movies explaining this weird-ass lineage and how it relates to Kylo, Snoke, etc. and then have built back to the final confrontaion on Exegol.

Leia. Trained. Rey. I so so so so so wished we had been able to get more of this. This, in my mind, is what it should have been all along. I liked TLJ (okay, so shoot me) but Master Leia is a whole other level of awesome. If I had to rewrite Luke and Leia’s roles, it would have went something like this:

Luke was searching for Sith artifacts. Luke was becoming disillusioned by what he was learning of the Jedi through “The Sacred Texts.” WHO DOES THAT SOUND LIKE? Hmmmm, I wonder....

Could you imagine Luke started to go a little Dooku in this respect, and so instead of fucking off the Ach-To because he had a feeling that was more “gravy than of grave” about Ben Solo’s dark sidedness, he fucked off to Ach-To - or even better - gave up training in order to keep himself from going down a darker path.

And so instead, Leia is getting involved with training (and probably also governing at the same time because she would be an overachiever like that.)

Enter Ben Solo, who is Force sensitive, strong, being trained by his mother and occasionally his uncle, who is not totally plugged into the light side at the moment, which can rub off on Ben. Meanwhile, Han is maybe not the best father (he wants to be, he tries, but it all comes out wrong. I’ve been watching a lot of Psych lately, so I’m thinking of a dynamic similar to Henry and Shawn, but a little more dramatic.)

Of course, Palpatine is seeing all of this behind the scenes, he’s fostering ill will and discontent through the scattered remains of the Empire, sending Snoke clones out to be almost pseudo-religious/cult figures in the wake of the economic and social devastation left by the Empire’s fall and the floundering new government. Extremism, in pockets, rises. Extremism which preys on discontent, which preys of the desire for family, for belonging.

Enter again Ben Solo, who has been pitted against the other strongest trainee, Rey (insert whatever last name you want. She knows it’s not her real name, she knows she was an orphan on Jakku, but she was brought by Luke to be trained). Ben is pissed how she and Leia bond, has been talking to his uncle, and perhaps encountered a Snoke clone on the way.

Rey, on the other hand, is no one but wants to be someone, and that manifests in weird ways during her training. Perhaps she leaves at some point, perhaps not. But the seeds of her being Palpatine’s bloodline are laid within her. She wants to seek that belonging Ben has.

Okay, but getting away from my personal rewrites of the sequels, Star Wars is about family and lineage, both blood and found. There was so much potential to play on this throughout the trilogy with the Skywalkers, with Rey’s relation to Palps that if they had just planned the damn thing, it could have been brilliant.

Moving ...(for now)

I felt so bad for Oscar Isaac. I felt like I watched his soul slowly depart his body over almost 3 hours. That man was not a happy camper and it came out in his performance.

Power levels. Here’s the thing, guys. Magic needs to have consequences. Sure, you can cast a spell, but what does that take from you? You can use the Force, but to what degree? How much? Even Anakin exhausted himself at some points, and he was (allegedly, according to one Qui-gon Jinn), the Chosen One. It’s the first law of thermodynamics - energy can neither be created nor destroyed - and the Force is literally the energy of every life thing in the galaxy. You take the energy, use it towards something else, it has to drain from somewhere. This is what bugged the hell out of me with Rey’s Force Healing abilities (an ability that doesn’t thrill me to begin with as it’s so easy to overuse). Kylo keels from resurrecting the dead (and yeah, he was pretty beat up already), but Rey barely seems to breathe a beat harder. Once you start ignoring the consequences for magic, you end up like a shitty video game, and one of the criticisms I’ve leveled at the movie is that it feels like a montage of Battlefront and I can’t say that’s totally off point.

JEDI HUNTERS. Ochi. I will bet my right liver we’re going to hear something about this on The Mandalorian.

So I know a lot of people wanted to see Rey Kenobi, but there was one piece of glaring evidence in the film why that would never be. (Aside from Kylo just announcing it to Rey.) She has a lightsaber, but she still ends up using a blaster. So uncivilized.

Speaking of The Mandalorian - Stormtroopers with Mando jetpacks. Hmmm.....

I loved techno-Sheev hooked up to all the equipment just floating. That was creepy as hell and played with the whole cloning and extension of life that was such a large part of the Darth Plagueis novel (which I still consider to be canon, higher powers be damned). Also, Palpy’s glowup with the wardrobe was hilarious.

Dark!Rey was hot. There, I said it.

Let’s talk about romance. Or the lack thereof. Or the shoehorned thereof.

Poor Rose got shafted in this film with no explanation. I didn’t buy that whole thing in TLJ, but god damn anyway. (Finn also got shafted, for different reasons, which I will talk about later.)

If they were going to romance, just let it have been Finn and Poe, Finn and Rey, or fuck it, even a trio.

I mean, I could have bought Reylo if it had been presented better. (With context. Adam Driver is an amazing actor, another thing I’ll talk about later.)

The Reylo kiss though - my theater laughed. No joke.

Of course, this was the same theater that thought Lando was trying to mack on Jannah at the end, so who knows what we were all thinking in there. (On that note, Lando was hilarious because no matter what, he was just having a grand ‘ol time in the movie. I like to think he got a medical spice card in his retirement years and was just enjoying anything that came his way, be it Wookiees, Jedi, starships, wars, whatever.)

While the Reylo kiss didn’t hit the mark the space lesbian background kiss got cheers, so there was some hope for my fellow theater-goers.

Did anyone pick up on Threepio saying the Senate made the bill that would render him incapable of translating the Sith language? No doubt that was a Palpatine move from TCW era.

What is up with these movies and desert/jungle planets? Ugh. Thank everyone for Kijimi, at least that was interesting.

New characters I loved: Babu Frik and DO.

Finn’s Force sensitivity. Yes, I totally buy it. I wanted more. I wanted more fucking context of a Stormtrooper who would have known nothing of the Jedi getting these feelings and then bailing from the First Order (or, if I were writing the movies, bailing from the remnants of the Empire/Snokes weird military cults.) Totally underutilized character development.

We. Were. Robbed. of Good!Ben. Adam Driver is so phenomenal. Form the little we saw of redeemed Ben, he is the perfect mix of his parents, from the “Ow” to the eyebrow wagging, the swagger, the smirks...I LOVED good!Ben. I wanted so much more good!Ben. What a transformation.

Speaking of which - the scene between Kylo/Ben and Han was terrific. I wish we had had more context for why everything went south, but it was so good and the type of family dynamic we really needed more of.

The Knights of Ren looked awesome in this film? They needed to be like the Black Order of Star Wars, and they were getting to it, but not quite there. Gods, they could have been the enforcers of Snoke’s cults (Palpy’s puppet cults) that could terrorize far more than a normal, brainwashed Stormtrooper, who was only useful as cannon fodder (I mean, if we look at the history of the clone army to the Stormtroopers, it would be terribly fitting.)

That ship tug-of-war was DUMB. (See my rant about magic and consequences). But, if Rey was going to shoot lightening Palpy-style and blow up a ship, Chewie should have died. I’m sorry, that’s terrible, I love him, but there needed to be consequences for actions and throughout the film, there were either no consequences or random consequences that were a narrative convenience rather than developed into the plot/characterization/worldbuilding.

Here’s the thing with the ST - there is so much potential. There are some awesome ideas. But they wanted to play if safe with JJ by rebooting the OT, Rian was too far out for them, there was no cohesive storytelling, and so we get these little glimpses into what could have been amidst a shitstorm of trailers for Battlefront 17.

we could have had it allll....

Final rating: 4/10

#the rise of skywalker #the rise of skywalker spoilers #tros spoilers #tros #hello there #rants from the lego compound #and what an appropriate tag it is #rey #kylo ren #finn #poe dameron #sheev palpatine #leia organa #luke skywalker #han solo #bunch of other characters i'm not tagging right now

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supermarvelgirl15 · 3 years

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Home- Chapter 2 (Sanctuary)

Summary: Din and Jesla team up with an ex-soldier to protect a village from Raiders. Jesla tells Din a little about her upbringing.

Pairing: Eventual Din Djarin (The Mandalorian) × OC!Jesla Gavdo

Word Count: 4,855

Warnings: Violence, gun TW

A/N: This is the longest thing I've ever written, oh my gosh. Anyways, remember that you can send in requests/asks for side stories for this series! Enjoy!

Series Masterlist // Main Masterlist

××××××

Jesla sits in the seat beside the Mandalorian in the cockpit with the Child sitting on the control panel. It's been silent between the three of them since they had first taken off. The Mandalorian didn't strike her as much of a conversationalist, but Jesla didn't have any room to talk. She rarely ever conversed with anyone.

However, she was certain the lack of conversation was caused by the one that had occurred earlier. It wasn't exactly a normal exchange of words.

“You're like... him?” The Mandalorian asked incredulously. Jesla looked back down at the Child, holding eye contact with him for what felt like, to her at least, an eternity. To the Mandalorian it almost looked like they were communicating silently.

Finally, Jesla nodded as she decided her decision. If she was going to protect this youngling, she had to be honest with her new acquaintance. But... she didn't have to be totally honest with him.

“Have... have you seen him use the Force?” She asked, once again looking back to the Mandalorian.

The Mandalorian tilted his head slightly in confusion, his modulator picking up his quiet “um.” Jesla rolled her eyes before holding her hand towards a crate that was in the corner of the hangar. As she moved her hand up, the crate hovered a couple feet off the ground. The Child dropped his ball and made a surprised cooing sound as he watched.

Din also watched in what he wasn't sure was shock or amazement. How did he get himself mixed up with these beings that could move things with their minds?

“The kid did that... with a mudhorn,” he said, answering Jesla's question. Jesla nodded and lowered the crate back to the ground carefully. “What... are you?”

Jesla wasn't sure how she was supposed to answer that. She surely wasn't a Jedi and she was no longer a Sith. She was just... her. The kid, however, he used the light side of the Force, but he wasn't quite a Jedi. Not yet anyway. How was she supposed to explain all that to a man that didn't even know what the Force was?

“We're... one with the Force. And we're both hiding from the Empire,” she finally answered.

The Child starts pushing buttons on the control panel, causing a loud beeping sound. The Mandalorian reaches over and turns it off. “Stop touching things,” he chastises the Child gruffly.

Jesla snickers quietly as she watches the kid look at the Mandalorian innocently and provocatively moves to push another button. The ships starts shaking and doesn't stop until the Mandalorian turns that off as well. He then grabs the Child and sets him in his lap.

“Let's see... Sorgan. Looks like there is no star port, no industrial centers, no population density. A real backwater skug hole, which means it's perfect for us. Nobody's gonna find us here,” the Mandalorian tells Jesla as he flies the ship into the planet's atmosphere. “Ready to lay low and stretch your legs for a couple of months, you little womp rat?” He asks the Child rhetorically.

He lands his ship in a clearing in the woods carefully. “I'm gonna go out there and I'm gonna look around. It shouldn't take too long,” the Mandalorian says as he gets up and puts the Child in his seat. Jesla nods in acknowledgement, checking to see if her blaster was in good condition. The Mandalorian then turns to give his attention to the kid. “Now... don't touch anything! I'll find us some lodging, then I'll come back for the both of you. Stay here with her. Don't move. You understand? Great.”

As he leaves the cockpit, the Child immediately climbs down the chair and starts following the Mandalorian. Jesla watches in amusement as she too follows him, seeing when the Mandalorian finally notices him. He sighs as he looks down at the Child before looking up to also see Jesla. “Oh, what the hell... Come on,” he grumbles as he leaves the ship, both the Child and Jesla following him through the woods.

They all continue to walk until they come up to a common house, which they enter. Jesla watches as the other patrons look and point at the trio. She makes eye contact with a warrior-like woman, immediately taking in her tattoos; she was a Rebel shock-trooper. The Child getting startled by a tooka-cat makes her finally break eye contact, subconsciously pulling her hood down over face. When the trio takes a seat at a table, a proprietor walks up to them.

“Welcome, travelers. Can I interest you in anything?” The proprietor asks, looking between the three of them.

“Bone broth, for the little one,” Din answers. The Child's ears perk up at the promise of something to eat.

“Oh, well, you're in luck. I just took down a grinjer, so there's plenty. Can I interest you both in a porringer of broth as well?” The lady asks. Din looks over at Jesla, who just shakes her head. He shakes his head as well as he tells the woman no.

The proprietor goes to walk away, but the Mandalorian stops her. “That one over there, when did she arrive?” He asks as he nods towards the warrior-like woman that Jesla had seen earlier. She was glad that she wasn't the only one that noticed her.

“Uh... I've seen her here for the last week or so,” the lady answers.

Jesla ignores the rest of the conversation between the Mandalorian and the proprietor as she watches the Rebel shock-trooper out of the corner of her eye. She watches as the woman looks over at them before she gets up from her table and walks out of the common house.

She knocks the side of Mando's boot with her foot, drawing his attention to her. Jesla glances over at the now vacant table. Din looks over and sees that the woman was no longer there. He gets up and goes to leave before looking between the Child and Jesla.

“Keep an eye on the kid,” he tells her before exiting the common house.

“I'm not a babysitter!” Jesla calls after him as she throws her hands up in the air. The proprietor comes back and places the broth in front of the Child. The Child grabs it and takes a sip, observing Jesla with its big brown eyes.

Only if her master could see her now.

The Child carefully slides out of the chair, careful not to spill his soup, and heads towards the exit. “Where are you going now?” Jesla grouses as she hurries to catch up with him. With a creature so small, it tends to get around pretty quickly.

She finds him outside, watching the Mandalorian and the Rebel fight. They have each other at blaster point before they both notice that they were being watched, due to the Child's loud slurping. The woman takes her blaster off the Mandalorian and points it at Jesla, who swiftly draws out her own blaster.

“Imp,” the woman growls, her eyes narrowing at Jesla. The Mandalorian looks up at Jesla, his helmet tilted slightly.

“And you're a Rebel,” Jesla shrugs as she places her gun back into its holster. The woman hesitates before she too puts away her blaster.

Din looks at Jesla for a few seconds longer before turning back to face the dropper. “You want some soup?”

Back in the common house, the woman- whose name was Cara Dune- and the Mandalorian converse with one another, as if Jesla wasn't there to begin with. In all honesty, she didn't have anything to say. Looking back, Jesla regretted fighting for the Empire, but it was too late to change the past. She had killed many Rebels, both as a sharpshooter and as a Sith, and the Rebels had killed many of her brothers in return. Jesla only joined the war in the first place because she had to be loyal to her brothers, because she didn't have much of a choice. Now, she knew that her brothers didn't have a choice in the matter either. However, she did choose to become a Sith. Whether she regrets making that choice or not, she still didn't know.

Jesla is brought out of her thoughts by Cara suddenly standing up from the table. “Well, this has been a real treat, but unless you wanna go another round, one of us is gonna have to move on, and I was here first. And I don't share with Imps,” she says, glaring at Jesla as she hisses the last part. Cara finishes her soup, sets the cup down and walks away.

“Well, looks like this planet's taken,” Din murmurs to the Child. He looks over at Jesla before getting up, not saying anything to her as he picks up the Child and walks out the house. Jesla scoffs, getting up to follow him.

She quickens her pace until she gets beside him, finally slowing down to match his. The Child looks over at her, tilting his head as he coos. Jesla smiles softly back at him, resisting the urge to scratch his head. She had to admit that he was, in fact, adorable.

“So... you're Imperial?” Mando questions, keeping his attention on the trail in front of him.

Jesla swallows thickly as she nods. “Well, I used to be. I'm not anymore,” she answers, licking her lips.

“What's an ex-Imperial sharpshooter doing running away from the Empire? Is it the same reason why they want the kid?”

This is your chance to come clean.

“Yes.”

Never mind.

Neither of them said a word after that, silently walking the rest of the way to the Razor Crest. Once they get there, the Mandalorian hands the Child over to Jesla, saying that he needed to fix some things before they took off. Jesla takes the kid inside and places him on the floor, grabbing his little ball.

She sits cross-legged across from him, cupping the ball in her palm. The Child watches as Jesla makes the ball hover above her hand, his ears perking up. He coos as he reaches for it, stretching out his little hand. Jesla laughs softly, dropping the ball in her hand before handing it to the kid.

“Can you do that too?” She asks him, gesturing to the ball. The Child looks to her, then his ball. He holds the ball out in front of him and... proceeds to put it in his mouth. Jesla quickly gets him to spit it out, wiping his slobber off with her sleeve.

Technically, Jesla should be able to communicate with him through the Force, but she just didn't know how. Her master didn't exactly teach her. At the time, it wasn't something that she needed to learn. Luke tried to teach her once, but she got too frustrated when it didn't work on the first few tries and just gave up. She had said that it wasn't that important for her to know. Oh, how she turned out to be very wrong.

Once nightfall came, Jesla walked outside the Crest to check up on the Mandalorian. She saw that he was still making repairs as she walks up to stand behind him. “Do you need some help with that?” She asks as she looks at the opened panel from over his shoulder.

Din doesn't look at her as he continues with his repairs. “No. I got it,” he mutters shortly.

Jesla crosses her arms as she leans back on the ship beside the Mandalorian. “Look, Mando. If we're going to work together, you're going to have to trust me to help out,” she points out, gesturing with her hand.

“I let you watch the kid don't I?” The Mandalorian quips, looking at her for a brief second. She goes to reply, but stops when she sees two men approach them. Jesla hits his arm and nods at their new company. Din looks over his shoulder, but then proceeds to not acknowledge them.

One of the men clears his throat before speaking. “Excuse me?”

“There something I can help you with?” Din asks dismissively as he continues working.

The two men glance at each other. “Uh... yeah... Raiders,” he answers. “We have money,” the other quickly adds.

“So you think we're some kind of mercenaries?” Jesla queries, pushing herself off the side of the ship. They wouldn't be entirely wrong if they thought that she was.

“He is a Mandalorian, right? Or at least wearing Mandalorian armor... that is Mandalorian armor, right?” One man questions, turning his gaze to Mando.

“It is.”

One man shoots the other an ‘I told you so’ look before looking back at the couple in front of them. “We have money,” he reiterates.

Jesla places her hand on her hip, looking the men up and down. “How much?”

“It's everything we have. Our whole harvest was stolen... krill... we're krill farmers. We brew spotchka. Our whole village chipped in,” one man expresses.

The Mandalorian turns to look at them as one man holds up a coin purse. “It's not enough,” Mando states before walking away. Jesla follows suit, the men also following them. She didn't feel like doing a job anyway.

“Are you sure? You don't even know what the job is,” one of them call out as they continue to follow the pair.

“I know that it's not enough. Good luck,” Mando condemns. He opens the hatch in the men's faces, causing them to stumble back startled. They finally start to move away as Jesla and Din walk up the ramp.

“Took us the whole day to get here. Now we have to ride back with no protection to the middle of nowhere.”

The duo halts and turn to look at each other. “Where do you live?”

∞∞∞

Jesla walks beside the Mandolorian as she mutters to herself. “I don't know why we need the dropper. We can handle the Raiders ourselves,” she complains.

“I didn't ask you to come with me,” Din grunts, surveying the area around them. Jesla moves in front of him, walking backwards so she can face him.

“I think it's just because you don't think I'm up for the challenge. I've already saved your life once and you know what I can do. From what I've seen, you're a pretty good fighter. We don't need the Rebel, we can't trust her,” she explains as she gestures with her hands.

The Mandalorian stops, making Jesla stop as well. “But I can trust you?”

Jesla licks her lips as her eyes dart away from the man in front of her. “I just want to protect the kid,” she admits quietly. Din watches her, surprised at her vulnerability. He sighs before pushing past her to head to the source of the light that seemed to come from a campfire. Jesla closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath to keep her emotions at bay. She hoped the kid was worth all this.

She didn't talk the entire way to the village, nor get any sleep. Mando, Dune, and the Child fell asleep however and didn't wake until they arrived at the farming village. Children ran up to the sled, all of them instantly enamored by the Child. Farmers also came up to help unload the cargo.

A woman, Omera, showed them where they would be staying. Jesla and Din both walked into the barn carrying some of their cargo.

“I hope this is comfortable for you. Sorry that all we have is the barn,” Omera apologizes as she pulls up the blinds.

The place was definitely better than most places Jesla has stayed in throughout the last few years. “This'll do fine,” she tells her.

“I stacked some blankets over there,” Omera says, pointing to a corner in the room.

“Thank you. That's... very kind,” Din nods at her appreciatively.

A little girl appears in the doorway, looking at the newcomers. Both the Mandalorian and Jesla watch her cautiously, causing the girl to hide behind the doorframe. Omera goes to pull her into sight again, holding her tight to her side.

“This is my daughter, Winta. We don't get a lot of visitors around here. She's not used to strangers,” Omera informs the duo. She then turns to her daughter. “These nice people are going to protect us from the bad ones.”

Winta looks up at the pair sheepishly. “Thank you,” she says. The Mandalorian just nods as Jesla offers her a small smile.

“Come on, Winta. Let's give our guests some room,” Omera says as she takes Winta's hand and leaves. Jesla continues to look on after them, her mind briefly going back to her own mother. She shakes it off, not wanting to be reminded of the woman that abandoned her.

Later on throughout the day, the Child is in a crib while Mando checks over his rifle. Jesla sits in a corner on the other side of the barn, cleaning her MK. She was ready to take care of the Raiders so she could relax for once in her life.

Omera enters with a tray of food, which was most likely for the Mandalorian, with her daughter behind her. Jesla watches as Winta takes the Child outside with her to play with the other children. She tries to ignore the private conversation between Mando and Omera, but can't help but overhear her ask, “How long has it been since you've taken that off?”

Suddenly, Jesla became interested in their conversation, straightening up to get a better look at Mando. “Yesterday,” he simply answers.

“I mean in front of someone else,” Omera clarifies.

The Mandalorian turns around, then looks and points out the window to where the village children are playing with the kid. “I wasn't much older than they are.”

“You haven't shown your face to anyone since you were a kid?” Omera queries as she tilts her head slightly.

“No. I was... happy that they took me in. My parents were killed, and the Mandalorians took care of me,” Mando replies, nodding his helmet.

“I'm sorry.”

“This is the Way.”

Once Omera leaves, Jesla pushes herself off the ground and sets her MK on a table on her way towards the Mandalorian. She knew that she should probably leave him be so he can eat, but something inside of her wanted her to talk to him.

She leans on the window sill beside him, looking out at the children running and laughing, none of them having a care in the world. “So... you didn't exactly have a choice of becoming a Mandalorian?”

Din looks over at her as he too leans on the window sill. It was the first time she had spoken to him since before they arrived at the farming village. “I did have a choice. I was... in debt to them,” he answers her, looking back out to watch the children as well.

Jesla shakes her head as she scoffs. “At least you got to feel that way,” she says, her jaw clenching slightly as the memories flow through her mind.

The Mandalorian turns to look at her again, his eyebrows furrowing under his helmet. “You didn't join the Empire by choice?”

The ex-Imperial sharpshooter pushes herself off the window sill as she turns her line of sight to Mando. If she were to ever gain his trust, she has to trust him.

“When I was a child, my parents... they abandoned me on Kamino, which was the planet where the clones, err, Stormtroopers were made. The Kaminoans took me in and raised- or more accurately, trained me- alongside the clones. So when the wars started, I was recruited as soon as I was old enough to be on the field. I kept my abilities a secret, mostly because I didn't really know what they were at the time... Back then, I thought that we were the good guys, but I was obviously wrong.” Jesla explains, crossing her arms tightly against her chest. She didn't have to tell him about her choice about becoming a Sith or her master now. She planned on doing that later if they continued to work together.

Mando nods slowly, turning away from her. “We all make mistakes. Not all of us are our mistakes though,” he states as he continues to look away.

A small smile covers Jesla's lips as she rolls her eyes. “Thanks for the advice. I'll, uh, leave you be so you can eat,” she says as she starts towards the door. She hears Mando thank her before she slips out the exit.

∞∞∞

Jesla, Mando, and Cara are patrolling the forest, the Mandalorian using his HUD to look for recent footprints. “About fifteen or twenty of them came through here on foot,” he informs them. He looks up above them, seeing damage higher up in the trees. “And something big sheared off those branches,” he adds.

The trio move on until they come up to a gigantic footprint. Jesla crouches down next to it, picking up some dirt and runs it through her fingers. “AT-ST,” she states as she stands back up.

“Imperial Walker. What's it doing here?” The Mandalorian questions, scanning their surroundings.

“I don't know. But this is more than I signed up for,” Cara answers.

You could say that again, Jesla silently agreed.

After informing the villagers with their new information, they decide to join in on the fight. Now all Din, Jesla, and Cara had to do was teach all the farmers how to fight and turn them into temporary soldiers; Cara with melee, Jesla and Mando with shooting. If they were going to protect the village from the advanced Raiders, they were all going to do it together. Jesla never thought she would ever see herself working with a Rebel, but there was a first time for everything, and times were changing.

The plan was for them to build a high and strong enough barricade along the edges of the village so the AT-ST couldn't get through. On the outermost edge of the krill pool, they were going to dig a real deep trench, so that when the Imperial Walker steps in, it drops. Cara and Mando will hit their camp to provoke them, and bring the fight out of the woods and down to the village. Jesla will stay back with villagers, and position herself on top of one of the barns with her MK-modified rifle to help them take out the Raiders one by one.

It was a simple enough plan, right?

Once the sun had set, Mando and Cara set out to the Raider's camp. Jesla made sure all the villagers were ready and in their positions before going to her post on top of the barn. She lied down and set up her MK, lining up her scope in the direction of where the Raiders were to enter.

It wasn't that much later when Cara and Mando came running out of the mist, swiftly sliding into cover. They all watch as the AT-ST breaks through the tree line, stopping on the bank just before the trap. Jesla curses under her breath as the Walker turns on a blinding light to sweep the defenses, everyone ducking down to try to get out of sight.

The AT-ST then opens fire on the huts, the Raiders breaking out of the forest and flooding through the Walker's legs towards the village. All of the villagers open fire and start blasting the Raiders, the Raiders reciprocating the fire. Jesla starts picking off Raiders left and right, never missing her targets.

Jesla sees Cara storm out toward the Imperial Walker, the Mandalorian's pulse rifle in her hands. She covers her as Dune carries out an apparently new plan. Cara shoots at the Walker, making it step forward. Jesla then understands, turning her fire to the machine. The AT-ST takes its attention of off Cara to look in the general area from where Jesla's shots were coming from. This gives Cara the perfect opportunity to shoot into one of the cockpit windows, causing the AT-ST to finally step into the trench where it goes down hard. The Mandalorian activates a charge and runs towards the fallen Walker with it, throwing it into the shot-out cockpit window before sliding into cover with Dune. The AT-ST blows up, making the remaining Raiders flee.

The villagers start to cheer, relishing in their victory. Cara and Mando both look in Jesla's direction, saluting her. Jesla smiles as she salutes them back. Now, it was finally time to relax.

∞∞∞

A few weeks later, the village was once again a peaceful place. Jesla could get used to living here for a long time. Her, Cara, and Mando were currently sitting on the porch of the barn, all watching the Child play with the other children.

Omera comes out and hands Cara and Jesla a drink, both of them thanking her. “Can I set you something in the house?” She asks, turning to the Mandalorian.

“Uh... thank you. Maybe later,” Din replies, nodding slightly.

She turns to watch the children. “He's very happy here,” she states.

“He is.”

“Fits right in.”

Jesla smirks as she watches Omera walk away. “So, what happens if you take that thing off? They come after you and kill you?” She queries, taking a sip of her drink.

“No. You just can't ever put it back on again,” Mando answers solemnly. Jesla licks her lips as she nods. She didn't realize how serious this lifestyle was to him.

Cara, on the other hand, just gave him an incredulous look. “That's it? So, you can slip off the helmet, settle down with that young beautiful widow and raise your kids sitting here sipping spotchka?”

Mando clears his throat and Jesla can feel how the topic is making him uncomfortable. “You know, we raised hell here a few weeks back. It's too much action for a backwater town like this. Word travels fast. You might wanna cycle the charts and move on,” he says, changing the subject.

As much as Jesla hated it, she knew that he was probably right. “I'm not going to be the one that has to tell the kid,” she murmurs.

The Mandalorian turns to watch the Child play with some krill. “I'm leaving him here. Traveling with me... that's no life for a kid. I did my job, he's safe. Better chance at a life. You should stay here with him... It'll be safe for the both of you,” he expresses, looking back at Jesla. She hesitates before nodding in agreement. The kid deserved a good life and Jesla could finally get the one that she always wanted.

“It's gonna break his little heart,” Cara shares, her eyes drifting to watch the Child as well.

“He'll get over it. We all do.”

For an unknown reason, Mando's words echoed inside Jesla's head. Maybe it was because she knew that deep down, you never really fully recover from a broken heart, no matter what you tell yourself.

As the Mandalorian walked off, Jesla felt a disturbance. Her eyes immediately went to the edge of the forest, scanning for any sign of life. She excused herself before making her way into the woods, taking out her blaster.

Jesla silently maneuvers her way through the edge of the forest, clutching the gun that was in her hand. She eventually comes up to what she assumes is a bounty hunter lining up its shot. Quietly, she walks up behind it and shoots it just before it could make it's own shot.

The Mandalorian runs up to her, coming to a halt just before the dead body. With his foot, he turns the smoldering body over, revealing a tracking fob.

“Who's he tracking?” Jesla asks as she slides her blaster into its holster.

“The kid,” Mando discloses, destroying the fob.

“They know he's here.”

“Yes.”

“Then they'll keep coming.”

“Yes.”

Later, Jesla and Din are loading up the cargo sled with the help of a villager as the Child waits for them. Cara walks up to them, placing a hand on her hip. “Are you sure you don't want an escort?”

“I appreciate the offer, but we're gonna bypass the town and head right to the Razor Crest,” Mando answers as he sets the last of the cargo on the sled.

“Well then. Until our paths cross,” Cara says as she offers her hand. The Mandalorian takes it and shakes. “Until our paths cross.”

Cara then turns to Jesla, giving her a once over before offering her hand to her as well. “You're not bad for an Imp,” she smirks.

Jesla rolls her eyes as she accepts her hand. “And you're not bad for a Rebel,” she replies.

Omera walks up to them, giving them a small smile. “Thank you.”

The duo both nod before they get on the sled. As the sled pulls off, Jesla looks back at the farming village fondly. She knew that this was only the beginning of her new life alongside the Mandalorian.

××××××

@living-that-best-life

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