Another Way: A Mandalorian Story

Kar'taylir

kar'taylir– kar-TIE-leer – to know, hold in the heart

Summary: Din decides to visit allies, but after he makes a decision without you, you begin to question your future together

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You don't remember falling asleep, but you must have. You remember closing your eyes, nestled in the warmth of Din's chest, but now as you open them again, you find that you're alone. Reaching out in the darkness, you find an empty spot next to you, confirming that you are by yourself.

"Din?" you call out in the darkness, sitting up in bed. Nothing.

It takes you a moment to process, but you realize that it's the first time you've woken alone as a married woman, and disappointment washes over you. The sheet he covered you with and pillow he had carefully placed under your head are no replacement for his arms.

It never used to be unusual to wake up alone. When he wasn't gone on hunts, a mixture of insomnia and nightmares always seemed to plague Din, causing him to withdraw to the cockpit, leaving you to sleep in peace and wake in solitude. But since the wedding, since Aq Vetina, those things seemed to disappear, and you'd always wake to find him still beside you, either still sleeping peacefully or half-awake and cuddling you while waiting for you to rouse. Could the honeymoon phase be over already – hardly even a week in?

After pushing yourself out of bed, you walk down the corridor to the lifttube and take it up to the cockpit. When the door opens, you're not at all surprised to find Din there.

"Three levels on this ship," you say, stepping into the room and walking up to the chair he's sitting in. "One with five holding cells carrying empty beds, one with a warm bed and a very beautiful woman to cuddle with, and the one you've chosen: the lonely, uncomfortable cockpit. We have to work on your decision-making skills, Din."

A courtesy chuckle escapes his throat. "I couldn't sleep."

"I figured," you say, sitting in the passenger seat, across from him.

You look at him with soft, sympathetic eyes, but Din doesn't move, his eyes fixated on the window, lost somewhere in his mind. You search for something to say, anything to break the silence, to snap him back to you.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"Don't apologize." He waves you off. "You need rest."

"And you don't?"

"I'll rest when I'm dead."

"Which better not be for a very, very long time. Far too long to go without sleep."

Din chuckles, then it falls silent once more.

"I see you've engaged the hyperdrive," you state after a minute or two. You look out the window, momentarily mesmerized by the cloudy blue tunnel outside the ship as you hurdle through space. "How long have we been in hyperspace?"

"Only a couple hours," Din simply answers. "We still have a while before we get to Tatooine."

"You opted to not change our course?" you question, wondering if he'd put any thought into what comes next.

"Well, I've been thinking...," he begins.

"Mhm...?" You sit forward, clearly interested in what he has to say.

Din sighs then turns in his chair to look at you. "I've been thinking about taking Fett up on his offer."

He and Fennec are headed to Dune Sea. To Hutt's Palace. He intends on turning it into a sector of the Bounty Hunter's Guild. He offered work, should I want it.