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It had been a few months since the Crest got destroyed, and Din and Boba had figured that they might as well stick together and do what they did best: some bounty hunting. This time however, despite their skill and competence in the execution of their plan, something had gone wrong. As they were finally cuffing their target, the latter – a Nautolan named Kai Drayson who had badly played his cards with some crime lord from Bimmisaari – spoke something that had triggered Fett.
Even though reading other people’s emotions was not Din’s forte, and although Boba was not known to be particularly chatty, the heavy silence that had fallen on the duo led the younger Mandalorian to believe that something was off with his vod.
Din’s suspicions had been confirmed as, after he had finished carbon-freezing the bounty, Boba had left for his sleeping quarters onboard the Slave I, leaving the piloting to Djarin. The man was not sure what to do in such a situation. Although Fett and he had grown to value each other as bounty hunters, he would not have gone so far as to describe them as “friends”. For a moment, he tried not to think about it and thought that maybe Boba needed to rest a bit. So, he chose to give him some room, and went on with his business. He sat in the pilot seat and set the course to Bimmisaari.
Grogu was here too. Master Luke Skywalker and his buir had figured it was important for his emotional development and well-being that he should spent time with his family. Having grown up a little bit, and emotionally matured thanks to his padawan training, he was at that age when a child could recognize other people’s emotions and try to empathize. So, of course, he had noticed. From the moment his buir and ba’vodu had come back, neither of them speaking a single word, he had noticed. And of course, since his buir seemed to have a hard time figuring out what to do, he was going to do something about it. Patiently, the toddler frog had waddled towards the pilot’s quarters.
Swish, the door slid open, and the Child stepped inside. The room was dark and quiet. Only a distant sound and soft vibration came from the main engine and nuanced the silence Boba had immured himself in. Grogu carefully made his way through the messy floor. He was aiming for the bed, on which Fett laid, back against the steel wall, knees brought up to his chest, hands resting on them. The child wiggled his way on his lap, and Boba let him. Surely, he had noticed the intruder as soon as he had come inside, but he had not bothered moving.
Grogu reached out and put his small green hands on the painted helmet, letting out a gentle coo.
“Hey kiddo,” the Mandalorian spoke, his voice soft and tainted with sadness.
In return, Grogu cooed once more, a caring look in his eyes. He lowered his fingers on the helmet, and softly pushed on it.
“Let me help you with that” Boba suggested, and he finished what the child had started. With one hand, he lifted the helmet off his head and put it on the rudimentary nightstand. “Happy now?” he asked, to which Grogu cooed happily in response.
The foundling let himself rest against Boba’s thighs, and watched the man’s scarred face. From the tip of his clawed fingers, he gently traced the intricate lines, his eyes curiously devouring them as the Mandalorian’s story unfolded under the child’s fingertips. Then, standing up on his two feet again, he put his second hand on Boba’s cheek, leaned forward and pulled his face closer. Closing his eyes, Grogu kept pulling until Fett’s forehead touched his.
Boba closed his eyes too. His thoughts were now bathed in a flash of light, soft, warm. A tender feeling spread through his head and slowly made its way down his throat, untightening it. His thoughts drifted in a different way now, a pleasant one. They were driven by the jedi child who seemed to be looking through the older man’s memories, until he found it. The one that he knew could work to help his ba’vodu.
Grogu cooed, and Boba was transported in his memory. It was all here, in him: the fatherly tender love he missed so much, the bliss of childhood, security. Grogu had looked in his mind and found what seemed closest, in Boba’s experience, to what made him happy. And so, the two silently contemplated Fett’s recollection, the warm soothing feeling slowly easing his tension.
On the other side of the ship, Din had prepared glasses for spotchka. He knew Fett enjoyed the occasional drink and figured he might try and lift his mood this way. Awkwardly, the bounty hunter too made his way to the pilot’s quarters, and knocked, holding the glasses in one hand, the bottle squished between his forearm and chest. After a second, he walked in, only to see that he had been beaten to dealing with the situation by his little adiik. Under his helmet, he sighed with relief. Apparently Grogu was better at this than he was – for the better. He sat down on the opposite side of the bed and put the glasses down on the mattress.
“So um,” he started hesitantly, searching for a way to start the conversation. “you want to talk about it?” Din asked as he opened the bottle, pulling the cork.
“No,” Fett replied, still holding Grogu on his lap.
The Child cooed in discontent, to which both men chuckled.
Boba rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing. “I really don’t, it’s not necessary,” he explained.
Grogu simply replied with a sarcastic “patoo”, if that was a thing. He turned to face Din and sat down between Fett’s now crossed legs, reaching out for the glasses he had spotted. The blue liquid was shiny, he wanted that. But his buir did not seem to agree, and he shushed his desire away.
-
Now that the bounty had been delivered and that the Slave I was unavailable until the mechanics were done with its maintenance, the two Mandalorians and one green child found themselves with credits and free time on their hands. They could have headed to a crappy cantina and waited there quietly, but Grogu seemed to be in a cheerful mood today, and Boba could use some distraction.
The warm day reached its end, and the evening was getting cooler in a much enjoyable way. As the three of them walked through the capital city of Bimmisaari, Glastro, Grogu’s ears suddenly caught something in the distance. Following the faint melody, its sound became louder as the group eventually reached what seemed to be a glastrorian funfair. Children ran around, giggling excitedly as some of them appeared to want to play a game of meiloorun bobbing. And of course, Grogu, seeing this, couldn’t help but pull on Din’s cape with pleading eyes, lips parted as he let out an inquisitive “Da?”
“I don’t think you should...” Djarin started, but all he was met with was frustrated pleas coming from the child in his side bag.
“Come on, the kid can have some fun” Fett chuckled as he lifted Grogu from his nest. The child seated on his vambrace; a wide smile spread through his lips as he knew he was getting what he wanted. Visibly, ba’vodu was more indulgent with kids than buir, and as any fifty year-old toddler would, Grog’ika was going to make good use of that information. Malice sparkled in his eyes as he stared at the basin of water filled with meilooruns, which, by the way, were about as big as his head. Talking about his head, Grogu had dunked it eagerly as soon as Boba had held him close enough to the water.
Of course, it was difficult for such a small creature to grab such big fruits with his tiny teeth, but, you know, the Force sort of helped him. But that was until his buir stepped in and muttered “Grogu, no cheating”, to which the child cooed argumentatively. It was a struggle, but eventually, the kid managed to get one of the fruits. However, he was not aware that he had to present it to the game owner to receive his prize – and so he swallowed the fruit whole, to the children’s astonishment.
Later that evening, the small clan was sat down in the grass. They had enjoyed the funfair a solid few hours before the two men had commonly decided that it was time to retire to a quieter place, where they could just relax and eat the food they had bought at a stall.
Grog’ika his entire roasted frog sandwich in one gulp and let out a small burp afterwards. Din would eat later aboard the ship. For now, he enjoyed a cup of bimmini beer, watching the peaceful valley drenched in night blue that spread before them. It was all silent, except for the occasional howl hooting in the distance. An arm of the galaxy split the sky in two.
In that moment, Boba felt the same way he did in his memory. He put a hand on the adiik’s head as the latter was messily eating his desert, then he looked at the helmeted man next to him. After all this time, peace at last.