Darasuum // Din Djarin Mandalorian ♠️

Chapter Seven - Nightmares

22 years ago...

Stewjon. It was a pleasant planet; one that I would like to spend the rest of my life on, but I couldn't help ache for him to come back. For my father to return.

I sat on the hill at the edge of the golden fields waiting for his ship to land. I waited every day, but I always left with nothing in my hands.

"Dinner!" a voice screamed, and I turned my head to see her standing in the entrance to the house. My father's sister. My aunt.

She was kind. Incredibly kind, and her daughter was a joy to play with but no matter how loving and caring they were, they weren't my family. Not the one I wanted. Not the one I needed.

My nerves raced as I heard the sound of a fighter jet soaring through the air. Facing the field, I watched as it landed, the glass opening and a figure stepping out.

"Father!" I called, standing quickly and hurrying down the hill, my feet threatening to fall from underneath me, but I didn't faulter. A lady didn't falter.

I didn't look to who's face it was I was rushing towards. Who else could it be but my father returning to get me? My father.

"Father?" I questioned up reaching the ship, stopping in my tracks.

He stood turned away from me, head facing the opposite way. I thought it strange. That he wouldn't look at me. What was even more out of place was the colour of his cloak. It was black. He never wore black.

"Father?" I asked once more, softer than the other times.

He turned around. It wasn't my father. Instead, a man who's skin was coloured red and black and who's face had horns either side of its temple stared at me. Then his mouth opened, yellow teeth showing through. I think he was smiling.

ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ

22 years later...

I jolted away, pushing the covers away from my body and I jumped from the bed, standing on the floor.

Panting, I ran my hands through my hair, my body drenched in sweat.

"Fuck," I cursed, shaking my head.

Tears formed at the corners of my eyes and I closed then, turning my head upwards in an attempt to stop myself from crying.

"It was just a dream," I told myself. "Just a dream."

Except it wasn't just a dream. It was a memory that served a nightmare in my mind.

I rushed towards the door, opening it and stepping out into the cool ship. My feet hit ice cold metal as I moved across the floor on my way to the cockpit. I needed to look at the stars.

I sighed upon not seeing them. We were still in hyperspeed. "Fuck," I cursed, slumping into the co-pilot chair and pressing my head back against it.

The beskar coin was already in my hand as I began to nervously twirl it between my fingers. It wasn't working.

"Solo?" a voice asked, and I watched as the Mandalorian sat down in the chair beside me.

His armour had been removed, leaving him in his black clothes, but the helmet still sat on his head. I could see his hands now however. They were tan in colour, and they looked entirely human. I realized that that was the first time I had seen his skin. The first glimpse of the man behind the mask I had gotten.

"Hey," I greeted. "Sorry if I woke you."

"You were screaming."

"Fuck," I cursed again, turning my head to the side as I fought back tears.

I closed my eyes to try and stop myself but when I closed them, all I saw was him. His cruel, smiling face.

"Are you alright?" Mando asked.

I nodded. "Brilliant."

He paused for a moment. "I had a rough childhood too. Planet got attacked."

Swallowing, I turned to look at him. I didn't care to stop the tears, letting them fall down my cheeks. "Mine too."

He nodded along. "Droids."

Now it made sense. "Sith."

"Is he the bounty you want to find?" he asked.

I nodded my head. "Darth Maul."

"I've heard of him."

"He's renowned."

There was a small silence between the two of us, and I found myself being comforted by it. I had always hated it, the silence, but in that moment, in the cockpit of our ship, I didn't mind the prospect of silence beside him. My tears stopped.

"You told me where you were from earlier," I started up the conversation. "It's only right I tell you something in return."

"You told me about being a General."

Smiling, I shook my head. "Yours was more personal. You don't talk about your past. At least you know I was a smuggler."

"And a pilot, and a bounty hunter, and a witch at some point –"

"Force user," I corrected.

"Force user," he repeated.

Letting out a long sigh, I bit the inside of my cheek. "I guess I'm not very good at the whole no personal questions thing."

"It doesn't faze me. The questions I want you to talk about are the ones you don't answer."

"They're the really personal ones."

He nodded, turning in his chair to look at the console in front of him. "Arvala-7," he began. "I think we're almost there."

I smiled. He didn't ask. He didn't pry. The Mandalorian only took the information I gave him and didn't push me for more. That was the first time anyone had ever done that. Maybe that was why I stayed. Why I didn't hop off each time we landed on a planet. He respected me and my secrets, and I respected his. It worked, but the only question was, how long was it going to be before it stopped working? Before my past caught up with me.