Chapter Text
The first oneshot starts right after Chapter 8: Redemtion
Din almost did not dare to breathe until they had cleared the atmosphere of Nevarro. The child in the passenger seat watched him with wide and curious eyes, still grabbing hold of the mythosaur pendant. As soon as they had made the jump into hyperspace, the Mandalorian leaned back in his seat and took a deep, but shaky breath. Every bone in his body just hurt and every little movement, including breathing, sent stinging pain through his sore torso.
He was tired, so tired. He had been on long, dangerous missions before, but he had never been as close to death than this time. Actually, he had been ready to make the last step. But fortunately, IG-11 was there to help. IG…. Din had never thought that someday, he would actually mourn for a droid. But what this former Assassine had done, would never be forgotten. In the end, it was a friend. A friend, who saved his life and saved the kid from imperial slavery or worse.
Din sighed loudly, almost startling the kid, who was still playing with his necklace. He looked up, staring at his protector. Although he wasn’t able to see Din’s face, he had a mere idea of the pain he was in. Since the Armorer had imposed him with the task of returning him to the Jedi and declared him as his ‘father’, Grogu felt their connection had deepened. Although the Mandalorian’s intimidating appearance, the kid has never been afraid of him. From the very first day, he was able to see behind the mask, although not visually, but emotionally.
But now, he clearly felt that his guardian wasn’t alright. He glanced at the blood soaked cape, the torn clothes underneath the silver beskar and heard the very careful movements and even the labored breathing and low groans. Grogu lowered his ears.
“I need to... I need to…” Din was not able to finish his sentence, the stinging in his chest seared through him with every word he spoke.
“I’ll be right back. You stay here….” he groaned and got up.
He went faster the closer he came to the ladder, which was leading down to the cargo hold.
“Meh?” the kid chirped and lowered his ears even further. But like always, he ignored Din’s commands and jumped down from his seat. He snuck after him and when he stuck his head through the hatch, he realized that Din had locked himself into the bathroom section. But regardless, the kid was able to hear the painful groans of pain through the metal door.
A sudden loud noise scared the kid, it sounded like a body had slammed against the door. Grogu whimpered in the sudden silence, a few minutes later he heard Din cursing inside. His voice sounded a little different, less muffled.
The Kid whimpered a little louder. Silence. Again he whimpered.
“I’m okay, kid. Stay in the cockpit!….. “ he heard the familiar muffled voice calling him.
The door slid open and Mando stepped out of the room. Grogu quickly pulled his head back and rushed to his seat again. He feared that the Mandalorian would rebuke him for not staying in the cockpit like he was told to.
Din climbed up the ladder and watched the little feet wiggling out of the brown robe in the attempt to mount the seat again. He sighed. Before Grogu was on his spot again, Mando scooped him up and placed him on his lap as he sat down on the pilot’s seat. The kid looked at him and noticed that parts of his armour were missing. The pauldrons, chest plate and back plate to be precise.
“Let’s get away from here, as far as possible…” Din mumbled, still sounding strained but less shaky.
Quickly, he typed in some coordinates and waited until the system had finished it’s calculations.
“Okay, let’s hit the rack, little Womp rat. Both of us need some rest.” he said, trying to conceal the pain in his voice. What Grogu didn’t know at this point was that Mando had taken his last shot of a painkiller injection, a way too low dose for his current condition, but it was all he had now. Although his fractured skull and the intracranial bleeding had been stopped by IG’s bacta treatment, he still suffered from the toll the explosion and the impact with the hard, dusty ground had taken on him.
Din did not investigate his injuries thoroughly enough because he wasn’t even physically able to. He had thought it wouldn’t change anything if he had one or two more broken bones or lacerations. He just wasn’t equipped to treat these kinds of wounds, so he had to pull through it by himself.
Mando groaned as he got up from the chair, holding Grogu close, so he wouldn’t slip from his arm. Down the ladder, he put the kid into his hammock above his bunk. He crawled in after and almost collapsed on his bed. With a few tabs on his vambrace, the door closed. Now, there was only the low humming of the machines surrounding them.
The child peeked out from his hammock, watching Din tossing and turning underneath him. After a while, he noticed his breathing had evened out a bit, so he must have fallen asleep, Grogu figured. But still, the kid felt nothing but sorry for his protector. He really wanted to help him. But the fear of rejection held him back.
After the long journey they had spent together, Grogu was still afraid of being left alone again. Loneliness was his biggest fear; he had been alone for so long. No one seemed to care for him for the last two decades and it still grieved his little heart just to recollect these hard times. And although he tended to ignore Din’s commands, he would never risk driving him to the point that he would let the kid down. The little one felt safe with the Mandalorian, he wanted to show his affection, but he didn’t know if Din would acknowledge or accept that.
A sudden groan ripped the kid from his thoughts. Din sounded like he was in great pain again. Wrapping his arms around his aching torso, he turned to his side and pulled his knees to his chest. Grogu had never seen him like that; he figured that the painkiller must have worn off. The kid threw a worried glance at him and made a decision. He wanted to help although he risked being ranted at again. Quickly, he climbed down from his hammock and approached Mando silently.
Now, Din laid half on his side, half on his back torn somewhere between consciousness and sleep. There was no position that didn’t hurt him. Grogu stepped closer and put his little hand on his arm. The kid startled by the pain he felt in the Mandalorian’s body. The little one frowned in worry. All he wanted was to comfort and ease his pain but he couldn’t evaluate if he was able to heal him completely.
But regardless, Grogu started snuggling on Din’s chest, gently patting his shoulder and trying to at least ease the pain with the force. He heard Mando gasping underneath the helmet, but he just snuggled closer, comforting him. Suddenly, he noticed Din was raising his arm towards him and the kid pulled back with a fearful glance in his eyes.
But suddenly, Din gently rubbed the kid’s arm.
“Don’t be afraid….. I would never hurt you” Mando whispered, drunken by sleep but his voice strained and full of pain now.
Grogu blinked away some tears that had formed in his eyes. Without hesitation, he snuggled his head on Din’s chest again and Mando put his hand on his back to keep him close. The little one scrunched his eyes shut, focusing on his powers; trying as hard as possible to help the Mandalorian with his pain.
Fortunately, a few minutes later it seemed to work. Din’s breathing became slower and deeper again. His racing pulse calmed as well. And when Grogu was sure his healing was successful, his huge eyes also closed to sleep.
A few hours later, the Mandalorian woke up again. Still sore but it felt like a few days had passed and his healing had made a huge progress. Din still was completely dazed by sleep, but Grogu instantly was wide awake and still kind of figured that he'd be mad at him for not sleeping in his own hammock.
For a second, he watched his protector, he was hesitant and seemed to be lacking of words. The Mandalorian could not deny that the Kid's mere closeness had eased his pain for a while at least. As a matter of fact, Din started to feel more comfortable around the little guy, he felt safe. A reassurance that he hadn't felt in years.
Grogu lowered his ears and prepared for a rant or a harsh command to go into his own bed again. But suddenly Din sighed and spoke with a soothing voice.
"Listen, I’m not mad at you. I would never be. I just don’t want you to get hurt in any way. But thanks for helping me. Now, are you gonna stay with me for a while, I’d really appreciate your company“ he asked, followed by a muffled groan of pain.
The kid couldn't believe his ears, his eyes widened and his mouth formed a smile. And without further ado, he slipped back into Mandos arms, cuddling him until they fell asleep again. Although Grogu was not able to see Din’s face, he knew he was smiling underneath his mask and the fact that his help was appreciated in some way, warmed his little heart.
And after this night, Grogu had never been afraid of being rejected by the Mandalorian ever again.