#this is what happens when i listen to the farewell theme from s2 too many times

[im-poe-dameron]

GHOST OF A FATHER

a/n: this has been sitting in my drafts since last august, but finally i managed to churn out the last hundred words. i don't even know if it's good or if it makes any sense at all, but i had to write it. it's been awhile since i've posted anything canon mando and of course i had to go for absolute angst. enjoy!

summary: there's a legend told about a mandalorian who chose to protect his child.

word count: 3.3k+

pairing: din djarin x reader (no romance just strangers)

warnings: angst upon angst upon angst, most likely continuity errors.

“Where did you say we were supposed to end up?” Finn asked, leaping down from the rock you were standing on.

“They didn’t,” Rey said, coming up behind you—pushing her hood down far enough to see where you had in fact ended up.

When you received a transmission telling you to come to the planet Mantessa you weren’t sure what to expect. There had been no sign off, no way to tell that this was a legitimate message, but something told you to go. That to ignore this would be proven as a mistake later on. You were told that it was a waste of time to go and there wasn’t much to refute that statement, yet there you were. Standing amidst the trees on the very planet you were told to come to.

In your mind you figured you were going to come across a young Force sensitive—perhaps a child in need of training. It’s what drew you in to begin with; the prospect of finally training someone on your own. Passing down a piece of knowledge that had been given to you. Yet there was no one to be seen for miles. You landed three days ago and after having wandered through what seemed like an endless jungle, you were beginning to doubt that anybody actually inhabited this planet to begin with.

“We should just go back,” Finn said, following you as you began to hike up a different trail. “It’ll be safer that way. Contact Poe and let him know we’re returning to the ship.”

“I didn’t come here to leave without knowing why.” You glanced up towards the trees, wondering what on earth was so special about this place to begin with. Sunlight could barely come through the area due to the overgrowth of forage. “Besides—Poe followed us up here.”

Finn scoffed. “No he didn’t.”

“You can ask him yourself.”

Movement in the trees echoed around you, followed by a certain pilot letting out a cuss as he nearly tripped over the roots. You had wondered when he’d follow the three of you up here—having gotten tired of waiting around. After all, it had been awhile since the four of you embarked on such a mission. Especially after what happened at the battle that defeated The First Order for good.

Funny to think that nearly an entire decade had passed since then and there you were, a fully trained Jedi soon to be master, helping Finn and Rey go in search of others. Life had become...peaceful. Serene enough to nearly seem like a dream in the end and yet there you were standing amidst the trees, no worries in sight. Other than the main one at hand. Who were you looking for?

“You followed us?” Rey asked, a smile on her face as she leaned against the rock.

Poe shrugged. “I got bored.”

“Should have brought your son to help us.”

He huffed out a laugh. “You and I both know he isn’t interested in becoming a pilot. I’m starting to wonder if he’s actually my son.”

Tuning out their conversation you began to walk further up the ridge, feeling something tug in the base of your chest. A feeling you hadn’t felt in what seemed like years. You knew this place—had seen it somewhere a long time ago, possibly in a dream—yet you couldn’t quite make out why. What had been so important about this place for you to dream of it that long ago? Before you were tasked with coming here.

“This way,” you said softly, pressing your palm into the tree before you. The tug in your chest becoming stronger with every passing second. You knew what lay before you, knew where to go and without questioning yourself further you began to head through the trees.

“How do you know?” Poe asked behind you, grumbling about how he wasn’t cut out for missions anymore.

You smiled, already knowing he’d hate your answer and chose not to respond. Most Jedi went off feeling alone when going in search of Force sensitives, but if you were lucky you’d manage to have contact long before then. Before any of this. They didn’t question you further thankfully, and instead began to trek after you—the sounds of the forest much louder than before. As if they were warning someone you were coming; nature working together to keep itself protected against those that didn’t belong.

“Have you heard the stories about this place?” Rey asked.

“Stories?”

She nodded, pausing to glance down at the floor as a tremble passed beneath her. “They say the forest is haunted.”

You chuckled, turning away to continue on your way. “They probably say it to keep people away from it. A trick.”

“Haunted...by who?” Finn inquired, catching up with you.

“Nobody knows for sure. The stories change every time. Last I heard it was a Jedi who haunts this place after having had a gruesome death, but there’s another legend that says someone else resides here. Looking over the forest and its people.”

“Don’t tell me it’s a war hero,” you said, glancing over at Poe who hung off her every word. He wasn’t one to mess with the supernatural, especially when it came to ghosts in forests.

You could recall the mission that landed him stuck in a Jedi temple for four days being surrounded by the Force ghosts of other Jedi. Some he couldn’t see, but still felt and after you managed to find him he was ready to leave the planet and never return. For good. Finn had been right there with him the entire time in an attempt to reassure him that whoever haunted the building wasn’t there to harm him.

The confirmation that they were real only made him want to leave more.

“No, apparently it’s a Mandalorian.”

Far more ridiculous than the tale about the Jedi living here. Even you knew that Mandalorians were unable to come back through the Force unless they were sensitive to it themselves. Choosing to remain silent on the matter altogether you continued on your way, stepping over vines and roots so as not to fall on your face. The terrain was rougher than you expected, but the four of you had survived much worse. What was spending a few days in the forest going to do?

“There are no more Mandalorians,” you called over your shoulder. “As far as I know the last one was found on Tatooine.”

“I know all about the last King of Tatooine,” she said. “I’m talking about this one. The one who protected a Force sensitive child before The First Order ever came to be created.”

You froze, the tug in your chest almost painful as soon as the words left her mouth, because you recognized this story. Knew it without ever having heard it to begin with. But how could that be possible? You would have had to hear it told somewhere at some point in your life. Maybe you did—long before the war, long before you finished your training. Except you couldn’t bring up the memory for the life of you—almost as if it was lodged in the far reaches of your mind.

Unable to be found again.

“Master Skywalker told the legend to me while I was training,” she said, halting her movements and pushing the stray hair out of her eyes. “He had come across this Mandalorian while searching for others to train.”

They were just stories. You repeated the words in your head as you began to glance around the darkened forest. Just legends that had to be told in order to keep people in line one way or another; the same stories that were told about the past of the Jedi, those that died before they could be trained fully. Stories to warn others of repeating the same mistakes others did in the past.

“Why this planet? This forest? Did he just choose to reside here?” Finn asked, his head turning in the direction yours did as a sound echoed off the trees.

“You and I both know that’s not how ghosts work,” you said, narrowing your eyes at the sight of someone standing a few feet away. “Hello?”

Your hand instinctively went to the lightsaber that hung at your side as the fog began to slowly lift from the area. The figure of a man now coming clear through it and nearly sending you stumbling back off the edge of the hill. It wasn’t possible. Had to be a trick your mind was playing on you after all the talk about haunted areas, because in the middle of the forest stood a Mandalorian. His silver armor reflecting what light broke through the trees, a blaster attached to his hip and a spear on his back.

“Is that—” Poe began to say, stepping forward, his hand reaching for his blaster but what good would weapons do against a ghost?

If it truly was one.

“That’s not possible,” you whispered—the tug in your chest stronger now that you watched the man begin to walk towards you. His movements silent, each step measured and slow. As if he wasn’t in a rush to do much of anything anymore.

Finn stepped closer, glancing back at you and Rey, his hands clenched at his sides. “Do you feel it too?”

Even you couldn’t deny the way the air shifted, the strength in the Force nearly flooded your body the longer you stood there. Potent enough to be shocking. Perhaps he was the force sensitive you were looking for all along, the person who had called you here. The internal war within your mind seemed to be put at a stop the second you saw it—how his body seemed to not only reflect light but allow it to pass through him. The blue haze around his body was enough to confirm what Rey had been saying all along.

“He’s not—he’s a ghost,” you said, taking a few steps closer towards him as he stopped mere feet away.

“So we’re dealing with Mandalorian Force ghosts now?” Poe asked, already slipping the blaster from his side.

You shook your head, noticing something behind him. Another small figure shifting silently through the forest. The movements were slow enough to allow you to keep your eyes trained on him, but you couldn’t take your gaze away from the man who now stood directly in front of you. His helmet tilted down as he looked at you fully—the transparency of his body now clear enough to be noticeable.

“Can you speak?” you asked, wanting to reach a hand out and see if maybe you actually were going insane. Perhaps you would be touching a physical body instead of an apparition created by nothing but the Force.

His head tilted to the side slightly, seeming to regard you carefully, before his arms began to raise. The movement was enough to have Poe raise his blaster, the sound of a lightsaber coming to life let you know someone was on guard. The urge to pull out a weapon grew with every passing minute, but you couldn’t move—didn’t want to move. Not when this was the first time you would ever be able to witness a Mandalorian as  Force ghost stand before you.

You watched as he lifted the helmet from his head, revealing the face of a man. The small lines in his face and the look in his eyes made you wonder how old he had been when he passed. What had been his story for him to wind up in the middle of this forest? The curiosity to ask more questions than you knew what to do with grew, but your mouth wouldn’t open. No words would escape free, because you didn’t know what to do in a situation like this.

Never had this happened before.

“Who are you?” you asked, hand reaching out hesitantly only to come in contact with the feel of cold metal. Faint enough to be a figment of your imagination, but strong enough to prove that he was still there in some ways. Still a man even in death.

He merely smiled, eyes holding enough sadness in them to show he hadn’t lived a life filled with joy. Pain had been his constant friend, something he could count on rather than loathe. Both finding balance with each other within the confines of his body; something sheltered by armor that seemed to be a type of metal in its purest form.

You were far too distracted by him to notice the figure behind him now approaching closer, the steps of it faint but still there. Glancing down you could see a creature wearing a cloak that looked similar to the one you wore. A metal pauldron with an engraving on it was attached to his shoulder—the same one that the Mandalorian was wearing. A clue as to who this Mandalorian was—who he had been.

Your hand fell to your side, and you quickly crouched down watching as whoever this was began to step closer. The small bits of armor beneath his robe showed through, giving you insight into his story a bit. He must have known this Mandalorian—enough so to wear his armor as if it were his own. This was why you were called here, why you felt the shift in the Force, why you knew this place long before you arrived. Because of him.

“You brought us here,” you said, not really asking the question, because you knew the answer. Knew that he had been calling out to you all along.

He nodded, hand reaching out for yours and resting against your palm as his voice echoed in your mind. “Are the Jedi safe now?”

“Yes,” you replied, smiling as he seemed to push his emotions outwards—towards you. “They’re safe—we’re safe.”

His hand patted your own, head looking up towards the Mandalorian who had joined you in crouching onto the ground. A movement that seemed to come to him naturally. You wondered if he’d done it over the years, more times than he could count, all because of him.

“I can go with you now.”

“Come with me now? What do you mean? Did you have to remain here?”

Rey’s hand rested on your shoulder as she joined. “Were you a student of Master Skywalker?”

He nodded, tilting his head down slowly as if to move quickly wasn’t necessary at the time. You’d heard the stories from Rey—knew how Luke Skywalker’s school had met its end tragically. If he was a part of it, a remaining survivor, then that means he’d been in hiding for who knows how long. You put the pieces together as Rey spoke to him about where he was from, what his story was, and you began to realize who this was. Who both of them were.

“The Mandalorian and the child,” you whispered, standing straight to mull over your thoughts.

“What, like the legend?” Finn asked.

“It makes sense. A Force sensitive child who left the school—who just so happens to be guarded by a Mandalorian.”

“Which makes him—” Finn glanced over at the man who now stood to his full height. Eyes watching the three of you warily; as if he was still on guard when it came to newer people.

You took in a breath, the final piece setting itself into place. “His father.”

So, the stories had been true all along. The tale of a young padawan, training to be a Jedi with the ties to a Mandalorian clan—a clan of two. Something you didn’t think to be possible now stood before you. A Jedi of two lives. Mandalorian and Jedi—coexisting together to create his past, his future, and the Jedi he was today. You weren’t sure why he called out to you of all people, but there was no going back on this. No refusing to bring him to the new school, because he was a part of the Jedi just as much as he was a part of his other clan.

“How long have you been here?” Finn asked as you stood off to the side, attempting to regain any memory as to how you knew this place. Except no matter how hard you wracked your brain you couldn't locate an explanation.

“Since long before The First Order.”

He hid here since before Ben Solo became Kylo Ren, since before the war that changed the tides of everything. He remained here by himself. Yet you couldn’t say that with certainty, couldn’t deny the Mandalorian who stood before you, merely a wisp in the air now. A ghost that knew he would no longer need to remain in one place. Who knew that the time for goodbye would come again.

Sooner than either of them expected.

“How has he managed to come back?” you asked. Finn shrugged, his eyes glancing warily at the man.

Behind you Rey stepped closer, inspecting the Mandalorian with a look you knew all too well in her eyes. “Life force,” she mumbled.

“What?”

“The life force of another being could be able to transfer someone’s consciousness to the Force.” She knelt down beside you, her hand reaching for him. “It’s never been done before so I don’t know if it’s possible but…”

“It might be,” you said, eyes once again catching the Mandalorian’s. “What happens when we leave? Will he come with us?”

For the first time, the man spoke, his voice just as familiar as him. “Wherever he goes, I go.”

It was unusual to see such a connection happen through the Force, only happening once before with Rey. Yet there they stood. A father and his adopted son, fully intent on protecting him—even in death remaining right by his side. Whoever they were, whatever they wanted, they wouldn’t be parting ways today and you finally understood why you were called here. Why you saw them over and over again through the Force.

You were always meant to have a padawan…always meant to train someone else. You just never thought it would turn out like this.

“What’s your name?” you asked.

Once again his voice echoed in your mind; small…as if he was still wary about his voice. “Grogu.”

“Grogu,” you breathed. “I suppose I’m your new Master.”

He smiled, eyes glancing up at you with the curiosity of a child. You weren’t sure how old he was, but he knew far more than even you—had seen things that would remain with him until the end of his life. Yet there was one thing he refused to let go of, even as you offered him the prospect of a new life. His father. Whatever happened to cause the Mandalorian’s death was a mystery to you, but it revolved around his child—you knew that much. A part of you could recall Master Skywalker’s voice echoing in your head.

Jedi aren’t allowed to form attachments.

Yet even you had broken that rule. You were attached to the people around you—their friendship kept you alive in more ways than one and the thought of saying goodbye to them twisted your heart painfully. So who were you to say if Grogu should remain with his father or finally say goodbye. No…you wouldn’t make that choice for him—you couldn’t.

“You don’t have to say goodbye,” you told him, a smile gracing your lips. “I won’t allow that.”

For the second time, you heard his voice beside you—eyes either glassy with tears or simply the slight shine of his projection. “Thank you.”

Nodding, you stood—waiting for Grogu to begin walking, his pace slower than yours. He’d chosen a different path, you could see it now, but in the end he found what he needed to find. The Mandalorian walked beside you, his helmet now atop his head as the others went ahead to make sure the ship still remained intact. No words were said, but nothing truly had to be spoken. Not when you finally understood what was expected of you—what the Force ghost of previous Jedi led you to.

Towards Grogu—not a Jedi, but not a Mandalorian either. Someone who was between the lines of what constituted either; who refused to choose one or the other.

Settling for perfect balance instead.

Ni kar'tayl gai sa'ad

"I know your name as my child"

#din djarin x reader #din djarin fic #din djarin one shot #din djarin #the mandalorian fic #the mandalorian #my writing #this is what happens when i listen to the farewell theme from s2 too many times