Chapter Text
forget facts
forget logic
forget everything that seems real
and just
trust
believe
~ DJ Kleus, Galactic Sorrow
You have been traveling with the Mandalorian for over a year now. He found you in a small town on Yavin IV after you stowed away from your home planet of Tatooine in search of... well, something more. You ran into him by accident. He had the kid with him, your little Green Bean now, but he caught your attention and you caught his. Little Bean waddled over to you when his dad wasn't looking and showed you his latest finding, a gray rock. You smiled and sat down in the grass with him as he animatedly went on about his rock in gurgles and giggles.
"You're good with him," Mando had said when he noticed the pair of you.
You smiled up at him. So tall and broad, looming over you in such sleek beskar armor.
"He is precious," you gushed as the kid crawled into your lap and looked up at his dad with twitchy ears.
"We have to leave now. Thanks for keeping an eye on him." And that was that. Mando walked away and you didn't see him again until that evening when you spotted him walking into a shady bar, the kid sitting in a floating pod beside him. You followed, and sure enough, he got himself into trouble. Eight men versus one, he didn't stand a chance.
Well, he is a great fighter, and now you realize he could easily take fifteen men, but at the time you decided to help.
That is the second way you got his attention. It was then that he asked about you, then ignored you, until you gave him useful information about his bounty which was scared off by the scene they made.
So, they go together, get the bounty, and next thing you know you're traveling with him. You watch the kid on dangerous missions, and assist on the not so dangerous ones (much to your dismay). You're a mechanic, a fighter (but obviously not up to Mandos standards when he makes you sit out half the time), and some how a glorified babysitter. He takes care of you, though, providing for both you and the kid. Plus, you get to see the galaxy like you always dreamed of doing--like you have always known you had to do.
Somewhere along the way, you and Mando grew closer. So close that you learned his name. You accepted that it may be the only really personal thing he could share with you, since he cannot take off his helmet. You understand how difficult it was for him, how vulnerable he was in the moment he shared it with you but you were so happy that he did. And you use his name when it is just the two or three of you. It's in those moments that you appreciate how you've become a family.
Somewhere between the quiet nights in, the dinners out, the little gifts he would bring you, the patching each other up, watching each others back--you found yourself falling in love with him.
It happened slowly, you didn't even notice it at first but you realized you wanted more with him. You would appreciate the way his body moved during his morning drills, the way your core would heat up when he is hunting a quarry--that primal instinct takes him over entirely, and it feels dangerous and you love it. Then those intimate moments that you look forward to at the end of each day, right after you put the kid to sleep, when you would wish he would do something, anything, to come on to you.
You wanted to hold his hand in the markets, you wanted to surprise him with gifts (and you did, you still do), you wanted more than anything to know what his face looked like underneath the beskar but you tamed that desire as soon as it presented itself.
It was all especially hard when he would injure himself and you would be worried sick about whether he would make it through the night. You're no doctor, and neither is he, you both do the best you can with what you got. You at least know how to stitch up and cauterize when needed.
It wasn't those times that made you realize you loved him, no, it was something far more simple.
Din decided to take you two to Naboo for a "surprise". When you stepped off the Crest you were at the bottom of a collection of waterfalls, the mist was carried in the breeze to you even before you could step onto the tall grass. Din had led you and the kid a little further away to where the water wasn't so loud, and seated you under a tree but still in the warm sun. He brought food from the last bounty they caught, real food, not rations. You were surprised and said he should use the earnings for something more practical. Naturally, he said this is practical.
He laid out a real picnic for the three of you. Yet still, you didn't even know it until about halfway through the meal when the kid took a grape from the basket and reached up to Din. You frowned because you've never seen him do that before, Little Bean knows he can't eat with them. You expected Din to just take the offered fruit to hold onto, but instead he leaned further down and allowed the kid to feed him under the helmet. Little Beans whole hand fit underneath. You were so shocked, but it was such a wholesome thing to see that it hit you like a Sandperson coming in for an attack.
You're in love with Din.
Odd how it's the weirdest of things that really make you realize.
"You ready?"
You're pulled out of your thoughts by Din coming into the room and opening the door. You nod once. You have a mission on Tatooine, your home planet. A lead about a Mandalorian. You told Din yourself that you've never heard of any Mandalorians on Tatooine, but he wants to be sure.
It isn't until you hear the name that you freeze in your tracks.
Mos Pelgo.
You're going to Mos Pelgo.
Your stomach drops and your heart picks up a couple beats.
"Mos Pelgo, you know where that is?" Din is looking at you now but he is quick to notice when something is wrong. "What is it?"
"I know where it is," you say a little breathless. It may not be your hometown, but you've certainly spent enough recent years living there.
Din steps closer. "Is this a problem?"
You shake your head, putting on a brave face. "No, no problem."
He examines you a little longer before he nods, but you can still sense his skepticism.
He gets you a speeder to share, and then you're off.
You try not to think about the first man you ever fell in love with, but it's no use because you're about to see him again.