Work Text:
Wincing a bit, you look around the ship you now call home as you strain your ears for the sound you’ve come to hate the most: silence.
The Razor Crest is the quietest it’s been ever since you first boarded. For many moons, you’ve been a part of the Crest’s crew, helping to watch over and protect the child alongside Din. Now that the child’s been returned to his rightful home, things are much calmer, much more different, and much—much—quieter.
Din hasn’t said a single word ever since you’d left the child with his people. It’s not unusual for him to be quiet; you’ve been in a relationship for him for almost as long as you’ve been in his crew, and you’ve come to know him and his tendencies well. But the eerie silence that fills the Crest is uncharacteristic, even for him. You’d at least expected Din to outlet some of his emotions to you. Without getting to see his face, it makes things harder than ever for you to properly comfort him. You don’t want to pry it out of him—with emotions this strong, you never know how he could snap—but you feel concerned as to why he won’t speak.
In fact, as you make your way up to the cockpit and see the blue lights of hyperspace outside, you wonder where he’s even taking you right now.
You haven’t discussed where you’re going from here. Ever since that eventful day on Nevarro, your sole mission has been to find the child’s home. Now that you’ve done exactly that, you have no idea what’s next. You know that Din doesn’t want to be a bounty hunter anymore and you aren’t exactly keen on returning to your old job as a New Republic guard in the Bomoth trading post. Your mind has been running wild trying to imagine what you can do with Din now, and it’s almost killing you to find out if he’s been wondering the same thing.
Slowly, you sink into the chair just beside Din’s, never taking your eyes off him as he stares ahead into hyperspace. All you can see is the blue light reflecting off his beskar, his visor hidden from you as his right pauldron and the back of his helmet face you. You’re not sure if he even knows you’re there.
“Hey, how’re you doing?” The question falls softly from your lips, as if a louder volume would frighten him.
You wield no response for a long moment. Then, with a swift movement of his hands along the controls, you finally hear something. “Managing.” His modulated voice is flat, void of emotion. It doesn’t help you figure out what’s going through his mind right now.
“It’s been so quiet without the little womp-…” you trail off mid-sentence when the Crest suddenly jumps out of hyperspace, a desert-like planet coming into view. Your eyes widen slightly as you rise from your chair, walking behind Din’s and resting your hands on the back of it. “Where are we, Din?”
Din once again remains silent, only bringing the Crest into the atmosphere of the mysterious planet and preparing it for landing. You hold tight to his chair as he does so, knowing you’re breaking his rule of always being secured in a chair for landing but not caring—and he doesn’t seem to, either, since he makes no objection to it. Din only starts to ease the Crest down onto the sandy terrain when a cluster of ruins comes into view. Your brow wrinkles together as you spot what looks to have once been a small city now destroyed by a vicious attack.
Still, nothing passes through Din’s modulator as he turns off the Crest and rises from his chair, walking past you to head down to the hull. You would be angry with his behavior if you weren’t so concerned, quickly following after him as you watch him open the hatch. He doesn’t pick up a single weapon, only keeping his blaster that’s always in his holster. You follow him down the ramp, and Din finally stops once he’s standing just in front of what must’ve been the entrance to the small city.
You look up at Din, watching as his visor never leaves the sight in front of him. Your heart softens when you feel one of his gloved hands suddenly reaching for yours. You take it without hesitation. Then comes the long-awaited answer to your question, the word sounding as if it’s being choked out from a tightened throat: “Home.”
You’re no stranger to Din’s past. He told you all about the day his parents died at the hands of the Separatists’ battle droids—only having been spared himself by the Mandalorians. It finally clicks within you as you look back to the ruins of the city: this was Din’s home, the last place where he ever saw his parents. The place that lives only in his dreams, now. The place that haunts him day and especially night. You give Din’s hand a gentle squeeze as you look back up at him. “This was your home.”
Din nods, stepping forward to walk inside the ruins. You follow along with no hesitation, still holding onto his gloved hand as he leads you through it. If there were still bodies before, they’ve long since decayed now, leaving behind only the destruction of the Separatists as you step over the rubble of old homes and stores. The sole sounds that can be heard are your and Din’s footsteps as they crunch over pieces of stone, wandering inside the graveyard of Din’s life before he swore his Creed. When you steal a quick look up at him again, you know you’d do anything to see what he looks like under that helmet now, wishing you could find a more effective way to comfort him.
The place is completely barren aside from the remains of the battle, no other life forms having survived nor rebuilt the city to its previous and humble glory. You wonder if that makes Din satisfied or angry. Part of you knows he’d be upset to see his old home bursting with life again as if nothing tragic had ever happened to it, but another part of you knows he’d do anything to see things as normal as they once were when the galaxy wasn’t as horrifying as it’s been ever since The Clone Wars. There’s so many things you’re aching to ask him, but you refuse to stir his emotions like that, instead waiting for him to feel comfortable enough to speak as you let him lead you through the destruction.
Din suddenly stops a few steps away from the iron doors of a bunker. Your heart sinks as you realize that’s likely the same one his parents placed him in just before they died—meaning that you’re now standing just in front of their graves. You give Din’s hand another squeeze as you look up at him, watching his visor practically burn directly into the sight ahead of you. You part your lips to speak, willing yourself to get something of use out of your mouth.
“I know they’re proud of you, Din,” you tell him softly, your voice so gentle that you’re almost afraid the slight breeze in the desert air has carried it away from his ears. Instead, you’re met with the smallest squeeze from his hand in return, acknowledging your words in the best way he can right now. “The way you made a life for yourself in the midst of such a chaotic galaxy, stuck to your Creed with resilience and pride, saved a child from a horrible fate and returned him to his rightful family no matter how hard it was…” you shake your head as you give him a soft smile, “… I just know they couldn’t have asked for more of their precious son.”
Finally, Din turns to you, taking both of your hands between his as he remains silent for a moment. “Thank you.” The words are once again choked out, as if there’s a lump in his throat preventing him from saying anything more. You wish for nothing more than to bring him comfort, but before you can do anything, Din leans down to give you a Keldabe kiss. He gently drops your hands and walks closer to the bunker. You don’t follow him nor say anything, allowing him the time he needs to absorb this moment and this sight he hasn’t seen ever since that one horrifying day many, many moons ago.
You hold your arms close to you as you watch Din stand there, his cape tugging slightly with the desert breeze as his helmet tilts down at the doors of the bunker still thrown open from where the droid had tried to kill him. He looks much more powerful now than he was then, taking the place of the one who’d saved him. His gloved hands remain stiff by his side as he looks around, likely remembering that last moment when his parents had told him they loved him.
What finally takes your breath away is the moment Din’s hands begin to move upwards, slowly resting on the sides of his helmet and beginning to slide it off. You’d look away, but you know it won’t make a difference; whether you see his face or not, Din’s still taking his helmet off in front of a living thing, thus breaking his Creed. Your mouth falls open and your heart begins to race as you see the mass of dark brown locks atop his head, his helmet now in his gloved hands as he holds it in front of him. With his back facing you, you still can’t see his face—but you’re already in awe of what you can see.
Slowly, Din kneels down just in front of the bunker. You watch as he brings the helmet close to his face, no doubt leaving a gentle kiss on the top of it, and then places it gently on the sand. The visor’s now facing you, and you feel a strange pit in your stomach at the sight of it without his eyes staring through it. When Din stands back up, he takes a visible breath, finally turning around to face you.
Your eyes widen as you finally get to observe the man you love. Din’s features are gentle yet hold an edge of ferocity, his jaw sharp and his nose hooked. Small scars litter the tanned skin there, the shadow of stubble left untrimmed crowding around his jaw and upper lip. You meet his eyes when he starts to make his way back over to you, and instantly you lose yourself in the depths of pure emotion that lie there. The brown eyes staring back at you are dark yet seem to hold the entire galaxy within them, sparkling with tears as he meets you where you are. You can now clearly see the grief and nostalgia he feels within—but amidst it all, strong affection for you.
Gently, with a tearful smile of your own, you reach a hand up to meet his cheek. The skin’s surprisingly soft, and Din inhales quickly at the contact, ever-so-slightly leaning into your touch shortly after. Your smile widens as your gaze never leaves his, your thumb running over his cheek and catching a single tear that’s fallen from his eye. “Welcome home, Din.”
Din gives his head a small shake, removing his gloves and stuffing them in his belt before he takes a hold of your wrist to ease your hand off his face. “This isn’t my home anymore.” Your heart flutters at the sound of his natural voice, softer and sweeter than you’d even imagined it. The ghost of a smile appears on Din’s lips as his hands meet the sides of your face. “You are.”
Your brow furrows together as you continue returning his strong gaze. You’re at a loss for words for a moment. “I am?”
Din nods, bringing his face closer to yours until he’s brushing his nose against yours affectionately. “Gar ner yaim, cyar’ika.”
You’re my home, darling.
Your smile practically splits your lips now as you stare up at him, feeling your heart fill with more love than you’ve ever thought possible as he bends down to kiss your forehead. Yet, just for a single moment, you hesitate. Your expression falters as you lift your hands to meet his face just like he’s done to you, your gaze now watching as one of your thumbs trails down his cheek and over his lips. “But what about your Creed, Din? Your Mandalorian ways? You can’t put your helmet back on again, now.”
Din gives his head another shake, brushing a piece of hair out of your face and gently urging you to look back into his eyes. There, you find warmth and reassurance, a look that has you practically drowning in the obvious love he holds for you. “I’m done with that now. I’ve accomplished what I needed to. All I want is to find my home again—with you. I won’t stop searching the galaxy until I find the perfect place where we can be together, where we can have our own life with our own family.”
You bite your lip to keep your emotions in check as you continue searching his eyes, keenly aware of the way his face is inching even closer to your own. “You want a family? With me?”
Din smiles softly, his lips now brushing over yours as he responds. “I’ve never wanted anything so badly, cyar’ika.” He pauses as he places his first kiss to the corner of your mouth. “I love you.”
You feel breathless as you say the words back to him—meaning every bit of them. “I love you, too.” Without another moment to waste, Din’s lips are soon on yours, finally connecting you in a way that has you feeling things you’ve never felt before. The passionate kiss becomes the seal of a promise that lasts for the rest of your time spent in this galaxy: the promise that you’ll always be at home with Din, no matter what.