The Quarry

The Quarry - Part 20

The sunlight was blinding as Din opened the hatch, and Versa raised her hand to shade her eyes. They had landed just outside of the settlement of Aq Vetina, and she felt her stomach tightening already as they laid their eyes on their childhood home for the first time in decades. She stood for a moment, taking in the sight of the outer wall and the buildings poking up above it. She felt a gloved hand slide into hers and she looked over to see Din standing next to her, watching her, resolute as always.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Not really, but let's go," she sighed.

His hand remained in hers as they entered the settlement, and she clung to it like it was the last thing tethering her to this universe. As steady as he was, she felt him squeezing back. The gravel crunched under their feet as they slowly made their way into the town. At first, Versa struggled to remember anything about the place, passing through as if she was a lost spirit, but as they walked, she felt the familiarity begin to settle back in. She pushed aside the last memories she had of this place, of death, terror, and smoke, and started to rebuild the happier memories she held. As they passed through the town square, she felt Din stop, gently pulling on her arm.

Versa turned to look at him. He was slowly surveying the area, and she stepped closer, wrapping her other hand around his arm. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah...yeah. Just remembering." He pointed to a storefront. "That was where my mother always let us buy sweets on the way home from the market. And that," he turned, pointing at a crumbling fountain, "was where I would toss coins in with you to make wishes." Versa inhaled sharply as the memory came flooding back.

"What do you wish for, Vers?"

"If I tell you, then it won't come true, silly!"

"Well, I wish that I'll get to be a starship pilot someday."

"Now what if it doesn't come true?"

"It will. Just you wait."

She rested her head against his shoulder. "You did become a pilot," she whispered.

"What did you wish for that?" he asked.

Versa squeezed his hand, lifting up on her toes so that her lips were inches from his helmet and only he could hear. "You."

Din turned to look at her through his visor as she lowered herself back down, and she wished so much that she could kiss him. He squeezed her hand and cupped her cheek, pulling her forehead to his helmet, and she closed her eyes, reveling in the intimacy of the moment. She knew there were eyes on them, watching a Mandalorian be tender with an unfamiliar woman in the middle of their town, but she didn't care.

"I always knew that fountain worked," Din said quietly, squeezing her hand.

Versa pulled back from him, smiling up at the visor and thinking of the warm, brown eyes hiding behind it. They continued walking down the streets, their feet carrying them along paths that they'd walked every day a lifetime ago. Din followed her lead, his heart thundering in his chest as they grew closer to their former dwellings.

"Do you really think he's back here?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged. "If I was him, I would have started here. Maybe the current owners remember seeing him."

"Are you sure you'll be ok with this?"

He felt a shudder reverberate down her arm, her fingers squeezing his. "If it leads me to Jon, I will be."

They rounded a corner, and Versa stopped short. The dwellings were the same, eerily so. The structures damaged in the attack had been repaired to the point where it was almost impossible to tell the carnage that had taken place. Trees lined the walkways, and a group of children ran squealing by, kicking a ball out in front of them. A slight breeze tickled the leaves of the ashsap tree out in front of Versa's childhood home, and her breath caught in her throat. Din saw her reach up to grasp the pendant under her shirt, her eyes welling slightly as they took in the place her parents had died. Versa felt him slip his arm around her waist, pulling her to him. She looked up at him and saw him staring across the street. Following his eyeline, she saw the dark doors of the storage hatch he'd been hidden in. She knew he was having the same internal struggle she was, and she enveloped him in a hug. His gloved hand slid around to clasp the back of her head and she felt the coolness of the beskar as his helmet rested against her shoulder.