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Narudar: Chapter Fifty-One: The Exile

SUMMARY: Following Din's encounter with the Armorer and the Mandalorian covert, his communication with you slowly begins to diminish.

WARNINGS: Slight fluff, canon-typical violence

WORD COUNT: 4.0k

MASTERLIST >>> MAIN MASTERLIST

To say you didn't feel guilty was a lie.

Din had reassured you time and time again that it didn't matter whether he removed his helmet in front of you. That this was something he'd allow for the rest of his life, no matter what happened. But voluntarily or not, he was still breaking his Creed. That was a lingering thought you could never quite eradicate from your mind... and honestly, you couldn't think of anything you could possibly do about this situation.

Because the thing was, it was his choice. It was his decision to show his face to you, and he was determined to keep doing so. The problem was that he was searching for a way to redeem himself, to mend his damaged Creed. What would he propose to do then? Because then he'd end up in an incessant cycle of breaking and fixing his Creed, over and over and over again. As much as he wanted it, that wasn't going to work out.

Of course, there was marriage—and, yes, he'd mentioned it before—but you weren't even sure if he was up for that.

At least the thought of it all distracted you from the medic while she treated your arm. There were a few stitches involved, along with a cool bacta wrap around your forearm. She was even kind enough to sew the ripped pieces of your cloak back together, ultimately covering up the wound. You made sure to pay her well for her services. Work like this did not come easy, not in this galaxy, and especially not on this isolated ringworld.

However, your only concern was that by the time you finished, there had been no sign of Din. He hadn't contacted you yet through the commlink, and even as you waited a while in kalzoc alley, he didn't appear anywhere. Eventually, though... you began to hear fighting. Weapons clashing against beskar. He was definitely still in there, and that worried you—because what if they found out about his Creed and that was the reason why they were fighting him? He was even injured... Did they not care? He could defend himself to an extent, but with his wounded leg, surviving was improbable if they truly were becoming hostile towards him.

All those thoughts and anxieties panicked you, and you couldn't stop yourself from walking inside.

The first person visible was the Armorer, down below. Her golden helmet was familiar to you, and her visor spotted you immediately. The sound of weapons clashing continued, but she didn't act against anything. She didn't seem aggressive either, which calmed you down... so you took this as an opportunity to climb down the ladder and meet with her. In front of you was Din, along with a somewhat recognizable Mandalorian. Engaged in battle. He was larger and taller than Din, but seeing how this wasn't exactly a death fight assured you even more.

There was no heading back, though... You were here, and Din surely saw you from his peripheral vision already. Your eyes shifted over to meet with the Armorer's gaze. "Why are they fighting?"

Her visor returned to the fight. The Mandalorian with dark blue beskar headbutt Din, hurling him aside to a wall on a lower level. Still, they were visible and you watched as he hopped down, brusquely grabbing Din before slamming his head against the wall.

He was going to feel that for a while...

"Paz Viszla has challenged Din Djarin for the darksaber," the Armorer explained in her usual monotonous voice. "Whoever achieves victory takes the title of Manda'lor."

Paz Viszla—you quickly recorded the Mandalorian's name in your mind. His gloved hands reached for the fallen darksaber, igniting it instantly. Seeing as Din didn't move from his spot on the floor was concerning, though.

"Fate has brought this blade back to my clan—" Viszla shouted, struggling to lift the darksaber. "—and now fate will end yours!"

By then, Din slid aside, and the weapon struck a metal pole besides him instead. Already, Din brought his vibroblade out to defend himself. Although when Viszla attempted another attack, Din bent down, dodging once—twice—standing upright again. But the taller Mandalorian seized Din by the neck, beating his head to the wall once. That staggered him for a second, though as soon as he recuperated, he slashed twice with his vibroblade, penetrating through exposed skin. With Viszla distracted, Din took advantage and wrapped both his arms around his neck, restraining him from striking him anymore. With the blade pinned to Viszla's throat, the Armorer interrupted the fight.

"It is done."

Her voice echoed through the empty space. Everyone froze. The clanging of weapons against beskar stopped.

Din won.

"Paz Viszla," the Armorer started. "Have you ever removed your helmet?"

"No," he answered without doubt.

"Has it ever been removed by others?"

"Never."

Wait, why was she...

"This is the Way," the Armorer declared, and Paz Viszla repeated after her immediately. Still, Din wouldn't release his hold on him yet.

"Din Djarin," she called. The second you heard his name, your stomach twisted and sank... She was about to ask Din the same—and no way was he lying about. No doubt would he make the truth clear to her. This would be the perfect moment to disappear from here, but... that would make everything seem worse. The Armorer would suspect something between you two instantly.

"Have you ever removed your helmet?"

Silence was her only answer.

Din didn't reply... he couldn't.

You could hardly imagine how he must be feeling right now—the regret, the sorrow, the culpability. This had been his entire life. The Creed was something he had sworn to since he was a kid, and now? Now he has to face down the Armorer. Someone who's probably known him since he took the Creed and promised to never reveal his face to anyone, no matter the circumstances. He shattered everything he ever believed in, and there might not be a way back...

The Armorer repeated her question again, this time with more urgency. "Have you ever removed your helmet?"

Still, he couldn't bring himself to speak...

"By Creed, you must vow."

Reluctantly, Din freed Paz Viszla, stepping away from him. Quietly, he muttered, "I have..."

There was a pause. A long, agonizing, tedious pause. The Armorer's disappointment lingered in the air. "Then, you are a Mandalorian no more."

"I beg you for your forgiveness." Din never sounded so desperate to redeem himself in his life. "How can I atone?"

"Leave," Paz Viszla growled, still recovering from the earlier fight. "Apostate."

"According to the Creed, one may only be redeemed in the Living Waters beneath the mines of Mandalore," she explained to Din. But Mandalore of all places? That planet was cursed. Sure, you never visited... though you listened to plenty enough stories from Din. You'd never visited the world in person, though.

Din seemed like he couldn't believe it—and he had reason to. This was an impossible task if Mandalore truly was poisoned. But... at least it was a way to recover his Creed, right? It was highly likely that he'd take that opportunity. "But the mines have all been destroyed."

The Armorer did not offer any help whatsoever. All she responded with was, "This is the Way."

Silently, Din sighed... and didn't utter another word. He only collected his fallen darksaber and his jetpack, walking past the Armorer and past you, without another glance.

You... might've messed up.

You shouldn't have come here— why would you even think of doing this? All you could do was stand there for a moment... and the Armorer stared. Did she blame you for this? She definitely had reason to accuse you of that. But she didn't speak, and you couldn't bring yourself to explain anything either. Because what could you possibly do? Apologize? No, that wasn't going to fix his Creed. Neither could you clarify what occurred that led to Din removing his helmet, because then she'd find out that he was willing to reveal his face. You couldn't make matters worse for Din. So the best you could do was leave.

You just needed to be there for Din now. That is, if he decided to discuss this with you. Which you doubted. You expected him to remain wordless for the rest of your trip to Tatooine, and that was okay. He needed his space right now, and you were going to give it to him. Still, the guilt buried deep into your chest and only worsened after witnessing all of this... Again, it was his choice—his decision. He chose to take his helmet off to save Grogu, he decided to show you that he loved you, and he wanted to offer one final goodbye to the kid. You shouldn't feel this culpability over something you never caused purposefully, but these feelings and doubts pestered you to the core. There wasn't anything you could do against this.

Once kalzoc alley was far behind, yourself and Din searched for public transportation. The spaceport was rather crowded, especially the ship that traveled off to Mos Eisley. Although before you could board the transport, an alarm blared. A droid along the side captured your attention, carrying boxes and packages besides him.

"Excuse me," the pilot droid called for you and the Mandalorian. "You're going to have to remove your weapons."

"I'm a Mandalorian," Din declared as you both approached the droid. Even after becoming an outcast to his kind, at least he didn't deny that he was still a Mandalorian. "Weapons are part of my religion."

"I'm sorry, sir, you can't board a commercial flight with your weapons." It presented a thin card to him, offering him to purchase it. "If you wish to discuss this with my supervisor, I will gladly book you on tomorrow's flight."

"Fine," Din gave in, snatching the card from the droid's claws. After he inserted the chip into one of the cases, the top opened up and revealed an empty space for your belongings.

"I don't think I trust this," you muttered under your breath. You were unsure about this, considering you never had to remove your weapons for transportation before... But extra precaution wouldn't hurt.

Both yourself and Din emptied out your weapons. From sabers to blasters to knives to whistling birds, even. Anything that could harm someone, no matter how small or insignificant it seemed, was placed into the crate. "Well, I know everything that's in there..."

It took longer than you expected. You seriously underestimated the amount of weapons you both owned. Once finished, the droid confirmed it was okay for you to board the transport safely.

Din took the window seat, and you were settled besides him. For the majority of the ride, he spent his time staring out the transparisteel, out towards the dark void of outer space. There wasn't much to say, so you were silent the entire journey to Tatooine. Although you should feel delighted about the fact that you were going to retrieve your new Razor Crest, this... ruined it all. It was going to be a long ride for sure.

You couldn't decipher whether or not Din was angry with you, considering you entered the covert without permission. He specifically suggested not to. But you couldn't bring yourself to ask, because the last thing you needed was to spark another argument. All you could offer was your hand... slipping yours underneath his palm, your fingers softly wrapping around his knuckles. And he pulled his away for a second—but only to remove his glove. When he grabbed your hand again, squeezing it gently, you felt yourself relax. No words, but that was enough to assure you that he wasn't annoyed. Not with you, at least.

He enjoyed feeling his skin against yours. You found that he'd been liking that recently... It comforted him.

Your face rested against the cool of his beskar pauldron. Drowsiness soon took over...

↡

You stirred awake once you felt the warmth of Din's hand disappear and the soft whisper of your name. Blinking away the blurriness from your eyes, you soon came to realize that you had fallen asleep against Din's shoulder—and arrived at Tatooine. Besides you, Din stood whilst slipping his glove back on. You followed suite, slowly exiting the transport behind long line of travelers. As soon as you stepped off the ship's ramp, the defected pilot droid greeted you.

"W-Welcome to Mos Eisl— Mos Eisley! On behalf of all our crew, thank you for traveling star liner travel." It continued blabbering on about transportation while yourself and Din proceeded to collect your weapons. Everything seemed to be in their place, and intact, without any damage whatsoever. "We wish you a pleasant stay and hope to see you again very soon!"

After that, the first stop was of course Peli's hangar. However, it seemed that every time you visited her... she was occupied by something crazy. This time, it happened to be that she was being attacked by a giant womprat. Although Din quickly took care of that, blasting it down with one bullet, saving a screaming Peli. She struggled to rise back up onto her two feet. "Oh— oh! What an entrance! BD?! You good?"

Your eyes fell, catching sight of a cute little BD droid. It didn't seem damaged whatsoever, except for a leg it seemed to favor.

"What do we owe you the pleasure?" Peli asked, happily approaching you guys. "You here to slay another dragon? Chasing down some elusive bounty?"

Hm. Those were good times...

Well, not really.

But at least you had Grogu, and you were all together. Not separated.

"We got your message," Din reminded her.

"Message?" She paused, confusion etched across her features... "What message?"

"You know, the message you sent us very recently," you explained, hoping she hadn't totally forgotten that she somehow managed to claim a ship for you guys. "Don't you have another Razor Crest for us?"

"Oh! Yes, that's right. That's what I said. That's what I do. I've been working my butt off, yeah! Did you bring the cash?"

You found it strange she didn't remember for a moment, but... that's just Peli. Din handed over a small bag suffused with credits inside. "It's right here."

"Mind if I count it? Not that I don't trust you, I just wanna make sure you don't give me too much." Peli turned, tossing the currency over to one of the pit droids besides her. "Hey, droids, make yourselves useful! Count this up, and then fire up the grill before that thing gets gamey. Right this way! Wait 'till you get your eyes on this baby."

A thrilling sensation welled within your chest, and you could tell Din's feelings were mutual when he trailed closely behind Peli. She led you both to a section of her hangar where she maintained ships that were under repairs. Under a tarp seemed to be the new Razor Crest. Even with it right in front of you, it was still difficult to believe that you finally managed to locate a ship for yourselves. It might not be the same Crest where yourself and Din shared memories in, but at least this was sufficient. It would take you places when needed, without having to rely on public transportation. This was good. A ship would do you guys good.

"So, where is your unlikely companion?"

The question caught you off-guard, but the subject was bound to pop up. After all, she did care and protect Grogu while you were gone bounty hunting... They shared some sort of bond with each other as well. There was a pause. You couldn't bring yourself to speak up.

But Din answered, "I returned him to his own kind."

"Why the hell would you do that?! I coulda made good money off that thing." Peli seemed downright disappointed, but chuckled anyway. "Open a petting zoo."

Once Peli reached the ship, she set her hands over the blanket obscuring the vehicle underneath it. You weren't gonna lie, it... didn't seem much like a Razor Crest. Not under that sheet, at least. Maybe you were wrong, but it seemed much too small to be one. Still, Peli couldn't seem to contain her excitement. You wished you could have her energy and positivity for yourself, because that cheerful personality she had always seemed to lighten your mood. "Ready to have your minds blown?!"

A million thoughts ran through your head within a split a second—but as soon as she pulled the cover off the gunship, there was only one thought on your mind: this wasn't a Razor Crest. No, it wasn't even a gunship. It was... some sort of starfighter. But you didn't ask for a starfighter, you asked for a Razor Crest. Your enthusiasm immediately diminished, and you discreetly casted Din a brief look of disappointment.

"But... didn't you say you had a Razor Crest for us?" you asked the mechanic, who didn't seem any less delighted as she revealed the ship. "This isn't a Razor Crest..."

"I never said I had a Razor Crest. I said I had a replacement for a Razor Crest."

"No, you di—"

Wait.

You quickly remembered the recording of her message, playing as much as you could recall through your head.

Heya! Heard about your ship, uh... you know, blowing up into a million pieces. Well, have I got news for you. Because I am your friend and I care about you guys, I thought about surprising you with a replacement for the Razor Crest! And.. well, I found it!

"Oh."

This setback was rather discouraging... and you were certain Din wasn't exactly pleased with these news either. Peli was only trying to help—and you appreciated that. Very much. Seriously, you loved her and she was one of the kindest people you knew. But how were you supposed to fit in this little starfighter? If the Crest was considered small, then what was this? There was a cockpit, and it seemed the droid port had been replaced for an extra seat in the back. But that was it. If you were going to resume bounty hunting, this wasn't ideal for that type of job.

"I don't have time for this—" Din was already turning to leave.

Your disheartened expression was clear at this point. "It's just a starfighter."

"Not just any starfighter— come on!" The mechanic tried to defend herself and the ship. "This is an N-1 Starfighter, handmade for the Royal Guard and commissioned personally by the queen of Naboo!"

"This is a pile of junk," Din declared. He wasn't wrong. Now that you pushed through the disappointment of realizing this was a starfighter, you noticed the ship wasn't even complete. There were parts everywhere and it was a disorganized mess. It wasn't in working condition.

"You should've specified it wasn't a Razor Crest," you voiced.

"I did! I said it was a replacement! Not a Razor Crest. A replacement!" Peli sighed heavily. Then, "You want your credits back?"

"Yes," was Din's instant response.

"No skin off my dip-swap. Droids! Bring this lovely couple their money. Here you go— it's that easy. Sorry to waste your time. Okay?"

Silence filled the air as you waited for the droids to return with your credits. Okay, you felt bad—you weren't going to lie. After all, she did go through all this trouble, searching for a ship that you could call your own again. She recognized your struggles and her only desire was to help. Maybe it wasn't what you wanted... but the fact that she thought of you two when she was so occupied with her own job was endearing.

"While we're waiting... can I tell you a little something about this honey?"

There was quietness, and Peli took advantage of the opportunity to continue.

"I know she doesn't look like much, but you got here a lot earlier than I expected, and I didn't get a chance to finish. I mean, clearly you can see I've got all the parts right here." She grabbed a part from the starfighter, pulled a random wire, simply causing a mess before shoving it all back together. "Hmm? It all had a home. Okay? Oh, look, a family of scurriers... Let's not disrupt the nest."

Din shifted closer, slightly interested now...

No, you wanted to say. No, you wanted the Razor Crest. Not this.

"You know how hard it is to find all original parts from way back in the galactic Republic? I mean, these are all handmade. No droids! And not only that, what I'm gonna do—just because I like you two—is I'm gonna add on some custom modifications that'll make her faster than a fathier. And! Because this baby's pre-Empire, she's off the grid. And did I mention she can jump into hyperspace with no docking ring? I mean, come on! Ya gotta see the potential!" Dust billowed up into the air as soon as she removed the tarp completely from the starfighter. "Woo!"

A pit droid stepped in with a familiar little bag of credits in hand, but Peli immediately gestured for it to shoo.

Din, nearing the starfighter, lifted a random part... and water, or some sort of liquid, spilled out.

"I'm telling you, you gotta believe me!" Peli approached him, silently hoping he'd accept and be able to persuade you as well. "This is a classic." Slamming her fist onto one of the thrusters, an outer plating collapsed to the ground from the impact. She ignored it, though. "Look, at least let me put her together before you decide. Can you give me that?"

Din was indecisive... shared a glance with you, as if searching for assurance. But you didn't know, truly. If this were the correct decision or not was impossible to know at the moment. This was something you'd have to wait out and see if its advantages weigh out its cons. This wasn't precisely what you wanted it to be, but it was a ship after all—and it would take you wherever you needed whenever you needed. So...

"There you go. Hm?" The mechanic revealed a tool, instantly beginning to work on the starfighter. "Get this baby up and goin'. You know, it'd be a lot faster if you helped..."

She offered a wrench...

Oh, what the hell. There wasn't anything wrong with trying it out.

note;

HII AGAIN !

i hope you liked this chapter !! the season finale for season 3 gave me the inspiration to finish this chapter. what did you guys think of season 3 ?? i understand why people both loved and hated this season... but the ending i really really really liked 🥹 as much as i love content from the mandalorian, if they left it at that and decided to finish the series there, i'd be satisfied.

but... apparently there's gonna be a season 4 PLUS a movie that's gonna close up all the stories from the "mandoverse" ? i'm actually pretty excited to see din djarin on the big screen 😭 i hope the movie will live up to its hype. i wonder how its gonna go... 👀 however way its gonna go, i already know how the narudar storyline will end 🤭

all your comments and feedback are so important to me ❤️

THANK YOU ALL !!

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#narudar #the mandalorian #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x reader #din djarin #pedro pascal #reader insert #star wars #star wars x reader

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