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Strangely, the barren brown wastes of Tatooine was a welcome sight as Din exited hyperspace. His cy're avoided it like the plague for good reason, if he could help it. But for Din, it served as a place that reminded him of what solidified his role as buir to Grogu, among other fond yet chaotic memories.
Mos Eisley was packed, nothing new there. He was relieved to see the Falcon docked not too far from Peli's garage, just far enough to avoid anyone thinking their arrivals were in any way correlated. Nothing stirs up more rumors than the galaxy's most notorious smuggler-turned-war hero being followed by (another) Mandalorian bounty hunter. Even in a place as isolated from galactic buzz as Mos Eisley.
"Back already, huh?" Motto called out just as Din popped open the N-1's cockpit, "Where's my little guy?!"
"Training," he replied, jumping out and tossing Peli the usual handful of credits, "Skywalker says 'hello.'"
"That so? Tell 'im that he still owes me a week!" The twinkle in Peli's eyes made Din smile slightly, pleased that Luke still had a friend on this planet.
"I will. Won't be long," was all he gave in way of a farewell. Peli waved him away, walking up to the N-1 while Din left her garage.
Even before he found his way into the Skywalker clan, folks gave him the wide berth even in the most crowded underground streets. A fully armed and armoured Mando would do that even before the Empire fell. And as the New Republic clawed its way into rebuilding anything resembling a functioning government, it wasn't any different now. Good for him.
The bar was well off the beaten path, by all accounts a dive even by Mos Eisley's standards. Din recalled cornering one or two marks not even two blocks away from here, their names and crimes long-forgotten, with how they resided in an entirely different life. Now, there was only one reason he had to come here.
Solo.
Few heads turned when he walked in, save for one mop of loose brown hair that sat in one corner of the bar close to the back door. Old habits die hard. Like the instinct to mark every patron carrying or concealing a weapon. Eyes watched his every move as he approached Solo, hands drifting off of tables just in case things went sour.
"Mando," Solo murmured in way of greeting.
"Solo," Din replied. The entire bar was dead silent.
"Eyy, been wondering if you two would show up again. Usual for you bucket head?" The Trandoshan barkeep, Sirr'krac, greeted with a lazy grin, a glass of Solo's favorite spotchka already in hand. Solo reached out to grab it while Din merely shook his head.
"Something stronger," he ignored Solo's raised brow while Sirr'krac hissed a chuckle.
"Suit yourself," and there was a second glass of spotchka on the counter. Din slid him twice the usual amount of credits as payment plus a handful of the local currency, "keep the change." Sirr'krac snickered and palmed the cash into his stained apron without a word, nodding to a Twi'lek waiter in the back. They nodded once and opened a door hidden from the general rabble. Solo raised his glass to the bar staff before disappearing inside. Din followed suit, taking in the private room Sirr'krac kept for those who had credits to spare and words that weren't met to be heard by anyone else.
Dim, private. Perfect.
"That bad, huh?" Solo queried, making himself at home on the circular plush couches. Din set his blasters down with care, just in reach, before sitting across with a heavy sigh, "not bad; overwhelming."
"You're telling me," Solo grumbled, staring down at his drink.
"Luke's been driving himself up the wall with his school, and every time I try to offer a hand he closes up," Din shook his head, moving to lift his helmet just enough so that he could take a sip. Solo averted his eyes. Even though they were clan, Din still appreciated the small action. As much as their relationship had grown from bitter grudge to drinking partners, Din still felt on the wrong foot whenever anyone other than Luke or Grogu saw his face.
"Leia's been the same with the Senate, although I can't really blame her; feels like every rich kriffer in the Core is out for blood just because of..." Solo trailed off, the unspoken topic of the twins' parentage hanging above them. Din replaced his helmet and nodded.
"One works hard to atone, the other to avenge... I just wish it didn't involve our families."
"Ben's been feeling it hard. He says he's fine but I don't need some mind-reading force nonsense to see that he's taken Leia's stress and the whole mess to heart," Solo squirmed a little, dunking back the rest of his drink before placing it on a tray. With a push of a button, it vanished into some hidden pneumatic tube, and with a woosh, another glass, filled, took its place.
"Grogu's the same. He can see how hard Luke's trying to appear strong, and he's upset that he's not being honest. Probably got that from me," Din huffed, a short laugh without humor. A beat of silence passed before Solo spoke up again, much quieter.
"You ever wish you could... just get them? Be part of whatever cosmic power connects them all?" Din turned towards him, mildly shocked at hearing such a question from Han. He'd been thinking similar things even before he met Luke, thinking back to the shock and spear of jealousy that pierced him when Ashoka revealed that Grogu could communicate through the Force. He and Grogu had their own way of speaking, and Din had made peace with it.
But with Luke...
"Depends. On the one hand, I want to understand what they feel. Even if for a moment. But on the other hand... maybe it's for the best that we don't," Din replied after some thought. Solo cocked his head.
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"When you think about it, they have to navigate the galaxy with a power passed down to them by blood or chance. A power I doubt even the old Jedi Order fully understood, despite how much Luke relies on it sometimes," Solo nodded in agreement, "If you ask me, when they're so attuned to the Force, it's guys like us who remind them that the Galaxy is more than... space magic and energy osik." He could picture the glare he would've gotten from Luke had he been here, but Han's sharp chuckle broke through.
"'Guys like us,' huh? And what are we exactly, except a couple of schmucks who took up a job one day and ended up... here?" Han gestured between them and around, his hand a tight fist on his knee. Din frowned at the question, or more so, what the question implied; were they really worthy to walk alongside their families? The way Han said it highlighted how eerily similar their introduction to the Jedi and the Force and the fight against the Empire ended up being.
Din accepted a bounty and ended up with a Clan of his own.
Han agreed to transport two strangers to a doomed planet and ended up marrying the Hutt-Slayer.
One-in-a-billion chance.
They just ended up being those two in a billion, tied to twin suns.
"Do you regret it?" he asked instead of answering. Han paused mid-sip, his easy-going smile fading. Din already knew the answer, but he waited for Han to say it.
"Not a damn bit," he mumbled, setting his glass down, "there isn't a credit or score out there worth a fraction of seeing my kid's face the first time." Din wished he could say the exact same with confidence, but there was a cosmic shift the moment Grogu reached up for him with his tiny hand the first time he opened that hover-pram. Fatherhood, perhaps it was something even the Force and the Manda recognized as being powerful enough to re-weave the fabric of any man. Well, most of 'em.
Din would never forgive Vader for twisting that ideal and making it a chain to torment his children, but he could recognize the last attempt at being human that saved Luke in the end. But that wasn't why he was here.
"Doesn't mean it gets any easier to deal with crap flying off the walls whenever Ben has a meltdown, though," Han sighed before downing his next drink, breaking Din out of his thoughts. He snorted.
"Or when they find out where you hid the Blue Milk Cookies for the tenth time," Din added, lifting his helmet off slightly to drink his. Han chuckled in agreement, considering calling for a third drink but thinking better of it. For now.
"Still, it could be worse; y'know Ben's at the age where he's dreaming about girls?"
"Didn't he just turn ten?" Din asked dryly. Han waved his hand.
"Eleven, actually. Fact is, it's one of the only things he likes to talk to me about instead of Leia. Although..." he trailed off, expression sobering, "the way he describes it makes it feel like maybe he should ask her. Or Luke... probably Luke, seeing as he's also had 'visions' or something," Din perked up at that, humming softly.
"What's he seeing?" he asked, setting his glass down.
"Well, a girl, obviously," Han drawled, "planet full of sand, but not here," he waved around. Din quickly shuffled through his knowledge of similar planets and systems, coming up with a small handful of options. He nodded for Han to continue, "and he keeps saying 'she's like me, but different. We haven't met yet, but I already know her.' See what I mean?"
Din shrugged, "No, but then again, I rarely do with this Force stuff. Usually, I just follow my gut, and it works out."
"A man who talks sense in this family, see that's why I decided to like you," Han replied, "so what does your gut tell you now? Mine's saying that Ben dreaming about a girl he hasn't met yet ain't exactly normal."
"You're probably right," Din sighed before reaching for his drink, "although I thought we're supposed to leave all this strangeness at the door when you asked me out here the first time." Han raised his hands in mock surrender before calling his third drink, "Right, my band tin man."
Din finished his drink in the meantime, calling his second, "I've got a few systems in mind that could be what he's dreaming about. If you want, I can send word out to some old favors of mine? Ask around?" Han paused.
"Sure. I mean, I'll pull some favors myself, but I'd appreciate it all the same," he mumbled, avoiding eye contact.
"I'm surprised you still have any left since you went 'upstanding citizen,'" Din chuckled.
"Hey, old dogs and tricks, am I right? Nice fob by the way," Han nodded towards Din's waist, "does Luke know?"
"Does Leia know about your 'business trips '?" Din shot back, smirking as Han choked on his drink.
"Kriff off!" Din chuckled, the remaining tension of the past few months melting away. One thought remained.
"Did Ben say if that girl had a name?"
"Oh yeah; Rey. And she's human if that helps." Rey, human. Din could find people with less.
"Alright. Until then... to being normal?"
"To being the rock in the chaos."
Clink.
End