Metanoia | The Mandalorian ON HOLD

Chapter 47

When Juno and Din reunited, it felt like the world made sense again. They had missed each other so much and now that they were together again, they never wanted to be apart.

Since Din had finished catching his bounties and made some good money, he decided to take a break from it and spend time with his daughter. He had set up the coordinates to a planet he found some months after he delivered the kids to the Jedi and the Seers. It was mostly abandoned, just some small fishing tribes lived there. The planet was beautiful, covered in green forests and great lakes. When he first saw it from above in the ship, the color of the planet reminded him of Juno's bright green eyes.

Currently, since the ship was a smaller one, with only one seat in the cockpit, Juno was sleeping in Din's lap with her legs hanging from the armrest as Din held her gently, his hand going through her hair to soothe her from a nightmare she had a few minutes ago. After they had left Eldrys, they had talked for hours. Well, Juno did most of the talking. They had talked about everything that happened during their time apart. About Juno's training, how Din returned to bounty hunting and how much they missed Grogu.

Din had spent many months looking for the green child, but the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, had managed to disappear somewhere in the galaxy and after long time, Din decided to take a break from looking, knowing that he was safe and taken care of as he continued his training. But Din would start looking again, for he missed his son as much as his daughter.

After some time, Din had landed the ship on the planet Eramis with Juno still sleeping in his arms, snoring softly. Din sighed and looked at the sleeping girl with a smile on his face before he gently shook her shoulder to wake her up.

"Juno, ad'ika. We're here." He said softly. She groaned and snuggled closer to him, breathing in his familiar scent that made her feel at home. "Juno, come on. Wake up." He said. She sighed but didn't move as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Okay. I'm up." She mumbled and then looked outside the cockpit's windows to see that they had landed near a forest. "Where are we, dad?" She asked.

He still wasn't used to being called dad. His heart fluttered and he was filled with love and joy every time she called him that. He never thought that he'd ever have children but then this little girl and a small green baby came into his life and turned it upside down. They were his life, his family. And he would do anything for them.

"On a planet called Eramis. I thought we could lay low for a while." He replied as she slowly stood up to look around more clearly. "It's a small planet. There's not really anything here, only a few fishing tribes. We could camp in the forest, sleep outside by a fire, see the stars." He explained as he, too, stood up and packed up everything they would need. She turned to him and smiled, she had always loved the stars, always looking out of the Razor Crest's windows to see them and he noticed. And remembered. Once the ship's doors opened, she grabbed her backpack and rushed outside to join him as he lead them into the deep green forest.

~

Night fell. It was warm outside as Din made a fire and roasted some fish that he had caught for dinner. Juno, in the meantime, sat atop a high, rocky hill, looking up at the stars as she clutched the Mandalorian pendants in one hand while her mother's necklace laid open in her other and the soft lullaby filled the silence.

When the dinner was ready, Din looked up to where she was sitting. He lifted his helmet to his lips, pulled his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly at her before he fixed the helmet. Juno startled and turned her head down to see him looking up at her.

"Come down from there, you're gonna break your neck!" He told her loudly. She looked back to the stars one more time before she carefully came down and sat in front of Din. He handed her the fish, took off his helmet and grabbed some for himself as well. She stared at him, not used to seeing his face. She studied him and she had to admit that he was handsome and was now understanding why women were always interested in him, even with his helmet on. He noticed, of course, that she was watching him and it made him slightly nervous. He hadn't shown his face to anyone since he was a child and now here he was.

"Sorry. Still not used to it." She mumbled when she noticed his nervousness.

When they had finished eating the food, Din pulled out of his pack a flask with some alcohol. As they sat in a comfortable silence, he took a sip.

"Ahh." Started Juno as she looked at him and he raised his brows at her. "Can I have some." She asked.

He swallowed and shook his head. "No." He replied.

"What? Just to warm up. Come on." She said and reached out her hand. Din reluctantly handed it over to her.

"Just a sip." He told her. She took the flask and lifted it up in cheers and took a sip, immediately making a disgusted face.

"Yep. Still gross." She said and handed it back to him.

"What do you mean 'still gross'?" He asked in shock.

"I might have taken some from one of the guards." She muttered, not looking at him, with a sheepish grin on her face. He just shook his head at her and chuckled.

They spent the next few minutes in a comfortable silence before Juno started yawning and her eyes were beginning to feel heavier. Din, of course, noticed it and pulled out some blankets from his pack, telling Juno it was time for them to call it a night.

"Come on, it's been a long day. Get some sleep." He told her gently. She looked at him and scoffed softly.

"I'm not tired." She mumbled and he chuckled.

"Sure." He said and threw her the blankets. She caught them and, reluctantly, got ready for the night, laying the blankets next to Din's.

~

An hour has passed. Din was lying on his side, his back to Juno, his armor laying neatly near him. He tried falling asleep but for some reason he couldn't even though his eyes were closed and the world around was quiet, the fire slowly dying out. Next to him, Juno was lying on her back, looking at the night sky, listening to his even breaths. Thoughts were running through her mind. Of Grogu, of the people she had left behind to be with her father figure. She turned to look at Din's back when another thought struck her.

"Dad?" She whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Are you sleeping?" She asked quietly.

"Yes." He replied equally quietly, his voice raspy.

"I wanted to ask you something." She whispered.

"What?" He asked, his back still turned to her.

"Will you train me?" At this he turned his head to look at the girl, raising an eyebrow. "I know you already taught me some things, but... I wanna know more. I want to be like you. A fearless warrior. A Mandalorian." She quietly explained. Her words made him smile at her.

"Huh." He let out.

"Huh." She mocked his deep, raspy voice. "So?" She asked.

"If it can wait until morning, sure." He said softly as he turned back to his previous position. She chuckled and stood up, taking her makeshift bed and pulling it close to his. She laid back down on her side, pulling her knees up to her chest as she curled up. Din's smile grew bigger when he felt her knees and forehead against his back and a small hand reached out for his large one. He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing her knuckles as he whispered.

"Sleep, Juno."

She nodded. "Good night, dad."

"Night kid." He muttered, still holding onto each other's hand as sleep overtook them.