•two journeys• din djarin

IX

Din was walking quickly a few feet in front of me as we headed back to the ship. After visiting the Mandalorian enclave, we went back into town to say goodbye to the others; Cara and Fennec promised to see each other again and Fett had haggled with the man selling the ship to get a reasonable price. We thanked them for their help and headed back to my ship. When we were arriving back, the droids had just finished fueling the tank for us; Mando flipped them a few coins as he walked on and I thanked the machines. He walked straight to the piloting room and I followed behind him. The ramp was rising behind me as the ship closed up, getting ready for take-off. He sat in the big chair in front of the controls and I sat in the co-piloting chair a bit behind him. I watched as he flicked switches and pressed buttons. Everything he does is attractive to me now. I sat there biting my lip and staring at him, my eyebrows slightly raised.

"You're staring," he called out. I felt a blush come to my cheeks as I swallowed.

"I...no...I'm just... analyzing." He looked back at me and chuckled.

"Believe what you want," he replied. I lightly smiled and stood from the chair, walking to get a glass of water. Things between Din and I were great, but I can't help but imagine what will happen when we get my parents, and we part ways. I grabbed one of the last canteens and turned to go back to the piloting room. I stood behind him as he got everything situated and figured out the controls. I handed the bottle to him after I looked a sip. He looked up at me and grabbed it moving his helmet up just enough to take a sip. I sat back down in the co-pilot seat as we got ready to take off to Tatooine. Eventually, the planet of Nevarro was just a small blip on the radar as we flew out into the endless space. Din punched in the coordinates to Tatooine and spun around to face me.

"What are you doing?" I asked confused as to why he turned around.

"Turning around to talk to you? I'm not used to having a travel companion that can actually speak to me, is this not normal?" He asked. I smiled and laughed at him.

"It's normal, I just didn't expect you to face me while we talk."

"I like watching you when you speak, you get this look on your face when you talk about things you're passionate about." I looked down at my hands as I fiddled with them in my lap. I looked back at him after sitting quietly.

"Can you tell me about him? I've told you about my family and I guess you've kind of told me about yours, but I want to get to know Grogu," I said. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I told you I've been a bounty hunter for years. Eventually, the bounties I was given weren't enough to cover the costs of much. Greef, the man from Nevarro, mentioned a special bounty that some very important people need to be carried out. I agreed to take it and set out to find him. Once I did, we traveled together across Arvala-7 together, and he saved my life when I was fighting a mud horn. I did end up giving him to the Imps, but I regretted it instantly and broke into their base to take him back. Since then, we had been on the move to keep him safe and find him a real home. My career is no life for a child, and he needs to learn to use his abilities," he explained. I listened to him interested and took mental notes on things to ask questions about.

"Did you always love him like a son?"

"I don't think I have; I think it started more as repaying a debt; he saved my life, I save his. Somewhere along the line, I just started caring for him in an entirely new way." I smiled at him and nodded my head.

"You're a good father to him," I said. He pulled out the small metal ball and looked down at it. "What is that?"

"It was the handle on one of the levers on my ship, Grogu loved playing with it. When I think about him a pull it out." He was good at the parenting thing, it made me wonder why he never wanted to settle down and start a family of his own. "My turn to question you," he said as he sat up straight. I nodded and crossed my legs, leaning back in the chair. "Why did you leave Nevarro?"