ash'ad | the mandalorian

śévéńtééń

CHAPTER 8: THE WAY

After Grogu's few belongings were gathered, the trio began the short journey back to the Defender. Din carried his small bag, slinging it over his shoulder with ease. He didn't have much more than when he lived on the Razor Crest, though he had accumulated more robes to wear.

Din's eyes were locked onto the pram, watching the child closely. He was staring ahead, impatiently rocking himself back and forth. He had already tried to take off a few times, forcing Din to hold him in place.

Beth slowly met his gaze, seeming to know exactly what he was thinking.

"He seems anxious to get back,"

"Yes," he replied simply.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to pin the reason for his restlessness, but nothing came to mind.

"Grogu?" she said softly.

"Do?" His head quickly turned, meeting her worried eyes.

"What's wrong, ad'ika?" she asked, running her gloved hand across the top of his ear.

He made a whining noise before bowing his head in thought. His nose scrunched up in frustration as he thought of a way to communicate, but then he thought of a solution. Turning to his father, he brought his hands together in front of him, forming them around an invisible sphere.

"Oh! He wants the shifter nob I used to let him play with," Din explained.

The baby nodded, satisfied that his father understood him.

"Don't worry, pal. It's back at the ship,"

As the path came to an end, the Republic Base stood proudly in front of them. The child's presence earned even more questionable looks from law enforcement than when they landed, but no one gave them any trouble.

Both Mandalorians kept their eyes vigilant as they merged from the path onto the landing pad.

Grogu eyes moved around curiously as he looked for the ship he had come to know as home, but he couldn't see it. Growing more anxious by the second, he started whipping his head around in frantic search.

"Udesii vorpan'ika! You're gonna break your neck," Beth chuckled, finally reaching down to pick up the little creature. The empty pram followed Din as they approached the ramp to the Defender, stopping next to him.

Grogu looked to the ship in confusion, but when Din pressed the button on his wrist and the ramp started to lower, he seemed to calm. He tried to examine the new ship's exterior, silently wondering what had happened to the Razor Crest, but Beth was already making her way up the ramp.

Din let them go first, making sure they got in safely before closing the door behind them. He sauntered across the main haul, gently placing Grogu's bag on the bench before walking off to the cockpit. As he started up the ship, Beth silently carried the baby to their bedroom, pushing the bags on the mattress aside to set him down.

"Now to find that toy you wanted, where do you think he put it?" Beth asked rhetorically, already sifting through the bedside table for the shifter nob.

It didn't take long to find, seeing as Mando kept his things incredibly organized. Plus, he liked to keep the memory of his son close by.

When Grogu had first left, he kept it with him in one of the smaller pockets of his belt. He would carry it with him on bounties as a sort of good luck charm, but that ended quickly when he almost lost it in a struggle.

"Aha! Here you go, ad'ika," she grinned, picking up the little orb from inside the drawer and handing it to the eager boy. Once he had his favorite toy again, his nerves disappeared.