Aldor's Eye - Part I

Chapter VIII - The Force

Din had never seen Grogu so happy.

Din had never been so happy.

Why would I ever leave this?

Though he'd tried to make it a point to consider his decision carefully, he realized he'd run out of excuses, and remained too content to come up with new ones. There was nothing else to consider. Between Aldor and the Eye, Din and his boy had everything they needed.

How could I ever leave this?

With nothing left to consider, he leaned back against the outer wall of the Maze to watch Grogu and Aldor engaged in a Force lesson. Din's lips curled into a small smile while he watched her explain how to expand and refine a defensive wall of Force energy. Grogu was already perfectly adept with it. He saved Din from Moff Gideon's Fire Squad with this tactic when Din himself was too busy dying to be of much use. Not long afterward, he saved both Din and Bo Katan from an inferno. It may have been a powerful skill even then, but since Aldor took charge of Grogu's education, he was able to manipulate it with intricate precision. Right now, however, what Din was witnessing was little more than a review. They were all but playing Force games at this point.

While she spoke through the review, she held a large collection of pebbles aloft with the Force, her delicate fingers curled up into the air to hold them steady. Din loved her fingers. So small and delicate. Nimble. He loved to watch them at work on a sewing project, and often became transfixed on how quickly they could glide along a seam.

She began to swirl the stones in the air in preparation for the onslaught she would deliver on her student, pursing her lips in concentration. Din loved her lips. So plump and delicious. Always on the verge of drawing up into that perfect crimson bow.

She suddenly hopped up in a quick, graceful motion, pouncing backward like a loth-cat as she began to push the tiny pebbles toward Grogu. Din loved the way she moved. A beautiful flow of slopes and rises that could cut through the air like a blade in one instant, then float across the floor like mist in the next.

Grogu continued to successfully deflect the stones, and Aldor's voice grew in excitement, laughing when Grogu gave her a bored look, teasing and playing with her. Din loved her voice. In these moments when she was excited and playful, it sounded like pure sunshine. Then in quiet moments over the kitchen table, it was deep as twilight. He loved her eloquent phrasing. And he loved how every word carried a whisper at the end of it, and enticed him to listen more closely.

I love so many things about her.

Among the things he loved most, he loved how she could fold her time and ability into a perfect triangle of activity, thought, and creation. She used them all in the building and maintenance of a world Din could no longer imagine leaving. He wanted to contribute to it. To become part of it.

How could I ever leave her?

He shamelessly watched her every move, drinking in the things he loved while he barely registered anything except how much he wanted to touch her. Taste her. He'd kissed her many times since, but his mind was still filled with the first. It repeated in his imagination every night. And every night, she was right there with him. The pictured scene was greatly embellished by now. They ended up on the floor or he dragged her into his lap. Then he would strip her bare and kiss her breasts, spread her legs, and ease himself deep into her soft heat.

Din dropped his eyes to the ground to get a handle on himself, even though there was no reason to berate himself for wanting her. Old habits were hard to break, maybe, so he'd resisted. And so did she. It was probably wise of them to have resisted a little while. They were both reserved by nature, and their minds were the sort that couldn't undertake anything without some thought. Maybe they were also a little afraid of how close they had become without thinking.