Chapter Text
Staring at the watery abyss in disbelief of what she had just seen living in the waters below. She was starting to question if she hit her head at some point today. A real mythosaur, like the ones from the myths and legends. She felt time stop as she continued to stare at the water as if the mythosaur would burst out at any second.
A high pitched squeak pulled her back to reality, she turned to see Grogu hovering by his father. He was coughing harshly before becoming limp on the ground. Quickly getting into action forgetting about her previous thoughts.
She turned to kneel besides him tapping his helmet a few times without getting a response, “Din!” She hissed yet he still laid unresponsive. He was breathing which was a small blessing as he wasn’t dead yet.
“For Kriff’s sake” She muttered as she removed his helmet. She doubted he would be pleased about her doing such a thing but as he was unresponsive so she could deal with his anger about it later.
As she lifted the helmet off she saw the blood that released from under it as it mixed with the water soaked stone below. She felt her breath catch at the sight, she hadn’t thought about the fact he might be bleeding. Usually their helmets covered the heavy blows so things like this didn’t happen, which is why she didn’t carry anything on her to be able to deal with this.
She held a hand to the back of his head where the blood was flowing from in a half hearted attempt to stop it flowing. Looking up at Grogu who was looking at her with innocent yet worried eyes then back down to Dins who were closed, realising it wouldn’t do any of them any good staying here she got into action.
“I need to carry him back to my home” She tucked one of her arms under his back pulling him closer to her while moving the other under his knees. Bo was strong, there was no doubt in that. But carrying Din was a struggle as soon as she stood on her own two feet.
Until he suddenly became lighter. Bo-Katan frowned before turning to look at the little green creature who was concentrating all his strength into helping her. Realising the little guy wouldn’t be able to hold him for too long she started to walk as fast as she could.
They got to the ship faster than she had expected they would. Carefully placing Din in one of the spare chairs as she ignored the droid’s annoying chirping. She needed to get off this damn planet and back home as fast as she could.
The flight home was quick yet felt like eternity. Bo wasn’t sure where this worry had come from. She kept everyone at an arm's length so how had this man and his son managed to worm his way into her icy heart faster than anyone has before.
Bo-Katan shook her head slightly letting out a deep sigh as they descended down to where her home lay. She tried to go as fast as she could without ending up in a crash, trying not to let the panic that was clawing in her chest cloud her judgement.
After all it wasn’t just her and Din on her ship, there was a worried child on board and an overly anxiety ridden droid. Honestly if Din was awake and she wasn’t so stress ridden she would be quizzing him on where the hell he got that droid.
Parking her ship rather half haphazardly she turned to look at Din Djarin who was still fully knocked out on the chair. Grogu was in his lap looking at her with the same eyes as in the cave, they made her heart melt.
“ He will be fine” She assured him as he moved back into his hovering pram. She knows that he would be fine, they had both suffered far worse than a head injury even if she did worry.
She heard Grogu yawn as she picked his father up once again. The small green hand lifted up as he scrunched up his little face to focus.
“ No” She stated causing him to open his eyes tilting his head to the side, “It’s a short journey now, no need to wear yourself out any more”
The trip to one of the many vacant rooms was fast, her droid followed them as soon as it saw them. Placing the unconscious man down on the bed being careful not to jostle him too badly. Stepping back once he seemed reasonably stable on the bed.
Pulling her helmet up off her head as she heard the sound of Grogu coming up behind her but with Din’s helmet placed in his pram instead of him. She laughed slightly at the sight.
“You know I would have just gone back to the ship for it” She smiled, picking the helmet up and placing it on the chair near them. Grogu did his typical little head tilt before waddling over to her pulling at her boots looking up at her.
It didn’t take a genius to realise he wished to be held. She supposed it was only natural after the thing the kid had been through in the past twenty four hours. Even if he was a Mandalorian foundling and force sensitive she supposed it was only natural for him to be a tad spooked.
Grogu buried himself in her arms, she felt herself tense for a second. It had been a while since someone had been close enough with her to do that. She noticed how the kid kept glancing at his father from the crook off her arm, it wasn’t good for him. Especially as the child was clearly exhausted.
“ Are you hungry?” She caught his attention. It was hilarious to her how quickly the small kids eyes lit up, “I will take that as a yes”
Making food would be a good distraction for the both of them.
Bo’s kitchen was rather spacious, she didn’t cook an awful lot in here as it was just her. The time she did spend in it was mostly sitting in the comfy kitchen window seat overlooking the waters beyond.
Placing Grogu in-between the cushions of the seat so he can make himself comfortable, his little eyes were fluttering between opening and closing in a way that made Bo smile. She patted him on the head lightly before going to find something for the little guy to eat.
She ended up making the kid some space waffles she happened to have from the last time her nephew came to visit. They weren’t really her taste of her food but her nephews children seemed to enjoy them.
Grogu looked at her warily as she placed the small plate in front of him, eyeing the food with suspicion. Sitting beside him with her own plate of waffles she nodded at him to eat. He frowned at her before staring down at the waffles.
“You will like it” She told him trying her best to understand his little expressions, “I promise”
She isn’t usually one to make promises as they are normally lies disguised as truths. But small ones to get a tired child to trust her and eat she can deal with.
It worked, after that Grogu stuck his fist straight into the waffles not even taking a second to think before shoving it in his mouth. If his father wasn’t lying unconscious in the other room she would have tried to teach him table manners.
“Patu!” Grogu squealed before shoving more into his little mouth. Bo laughed lightly, shaking her head. She wasn’t quite sure what Patu meant but based on the little green guy's reaction she can only hope it meant something good.
They ate in peaceful silence after that there was the occasional squeal or yawn from the little one but no one sided conversations like earlier.
After a little bit Bo-Katan started to hear quiet snores coming from beside her. Grogu was curled up in between the cushions she had placed him by and the corner of the seat.
It was an endearing sight, one that made her realise a little more why Din had become attached to the child. Little by little the foundling and his father gave her more reason to become attached to the pair.
Attached. Is that what was happening? Bo-Katanga hadn't been attached to someone in a long time. Maybe as long ago as Satine. Though as the pair got older they grew apart in both an ideals and familial sense. But once they had been so close that she considered her sister her best friend.
Even if it was the naivety of youth that made her think such a thing.
Bo isn't naive anymore; the world had been too cruel to her to be as such.
Which is why she is so confused on how Din Djarin and his son had made it through her emotional defences that had kept her safe for so long.
It left her wondering where this worry and painful feeling in her chest had come from. She had felt this the first time on Gideons ship. When he offered her the dark saber; the naivety and innocence in his actions made her heart clench.
She remembered back to when she was younger and Satine told her about Obi-wan. They were sitting in Satines room on her large bed surrounded by her cushions. It was late at night, they were both meant to be in bed asleep hours ago. But that never stopped them.
Satine had this love sick expression across her face that made Bo want to vomit. She recalled how her sister spoke of the Jedi and how Satine said her heart ached just thinking of him.
Bo remembered very boldly announcing to her sister that she would never allow herself to fall for someone like that. Her exact words were "Feelings are gross just like boys"
The look on Satines face was one that Bo could only describe as 'Just you wait'. Of course her sister was right like always. If her sister was alive and with her right now she would be laughing at her inner turmoil.
The feelings that Satine had described to her that night were nearly to the word how Bo-Katan would describe the feelings she is experiencing.
Placing her head in her hands, she questioned how she got to this point. How a small feeling on Gideons ship had spiralled into something she could not name.
At first she explained her draw to him was due to the darksaber; after all she wanted to win it back for quite a while. Until everyone she had left decided she wasn’t the one to get mandalore back to its former glory.
Wallowing in her own self pity in her castle that was devoid of any life but her own. Then Din Djarin walked through her overly long corridor asking to join her non-existent cause and she felt that pull towards him again while she pushed him away.
The sound of the door opening snapped her out of her rabbit hole of thoughts. In came her droid who was assigned to Din. Bo-katan stood up awaiting the news, being careful not to wake the baby.
“Your majesty, Din Djarin will be perfectly fine” He stated before continuing, “It seems like he had ingested an unknown blood thinner that caused him to bleed slightly faster than the norm”
“Right” She nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. She was silent for a moment longer absorbing the information the droid provided. That cyborg looking creature had most likely done it to get his blood faster, “Anything else?”
“Din Djarin must keep his helmet off for at least a week to let his head wound heal” The droid told her rather simply. Though all Bo-katan could think at that moment was that Din would not be pleased.
“Thankyou” She nodded dismissing the droid. The lingering question of why she was so worried over something so simple was still haunting her like a bad smell but she kept waving it off as worry for Grogu. After all she knew what it was like to lose a father she would never wish that upon anyone.
Moving around the table she carefully picked Grogu up in her arms making sure not to wake him. Though from the look of him it seemed he was out good for at least a few hours.
Din was still fast asleep when the pair came back into the room just now he had a lot less blood coating his face and a bacta patch on his head wound. Quietly pulling the hovering pram closer to her she carefully laid the child into it.
Placing Dins helmet on her lap so she could sit in the chair it once occupied. She did have half the thought to go hide his helmet so he couldn’t sneak it on but decided against it as she hoped he had more common sense than to do something like that.
Seeing Din’s face was odd. Not that she hadn’t seen it before obviously she had seen it on Gideons ship but it was for a short period of time and from an angle where she couldn’t actually see much. The next time she saw him he was bleeding out and was mildly panicking. She didn’t have time to pay much attention to his face.
Realising she was just staring at him she leaned back in her chair resting her head on the cold wall behind her. She should probably go to her room and sleep but it wouldn’t hurt to rest her eyes in the overly uncomfortable chair.