#final sacrifice

Well, here it goes, last chapter.  I’m so very grateful to every one of you, who have read this story. I never expected so many people to read this. I have to thank again @queenjules907 for beta reading the first chapters, to @azertyrobaz for her input when I doubted the most, and all of you who with your comments gave me the courage to continue this little adventure of mine. This was my first fanfic. And even if it’s clear that I’m definitely not a writer, I’ve found nothing but nice words throughout. Its allowed me to meet very nice and interesting people to which I’m very grateful. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Posted on AO3 on the following link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/98022780

Comments are always very appreciated!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

I choose not to declare with some trigger warnings, so no to spoil some details of the chapter. Nothing terribly graphic, but you are warned.

Link to chapter 13

When he had returned from his walk in the forest, sun about to set, he was surprised to find the village lit with small torches. The villagers were gathered around a larger fire where people were eating and dancing to the music being played.

He felt extremely weak and exhausted, the walk and workout having been too much for his still fragile state. He tried to make himself scarce and get to Omera’s hut without being seen, with a deep urge of hiding his difficulty in walking, how all the recent events have weakened his body (and soul). He felt sticky from the dry sweat and he surely was smelly, needed to wash as well.

On his way to the hut he heard Grogu fussing, clearly unhappy about something. Even if he knew that whatever was going on, the child was well taken care of, he walked around one of the huts following the sound of the kid’s cries. He found Omera gently rocking the baby to get him to calm down.

-“You’re back!” Omera said.

-“I apologize for taking so… ohh”. He didn’t have the time to finish his sentence when Grogu jumped out of Omera’s arms and onto Din’s chest, hugging him strongly.

-“…long”, Din finished, eyes wide open in surprise for the kid’s reaction. Din’s heart broke when he realized the kid was now sobbing. He hugged him back, rubbing his back to calm him down.

-“What is going on, pal?” He asked while sitting next to Omera, baby still safely in his arms.

-“He’s been upset since you left. He kept looking for you. I explained him that you would come back but…”

She didn’t need to finish. Din knew that the kid was scared of being left behind, again . “How could I have been so selfish?” He thought to himself. Din regretted immediately his behavior. He had left for quite some time, and even though he needed the time alone, he didn’t think about what the kid may have needed during his absence.

-“Hey, you’re okay, Grogu. I’m back.” He tried to reassure him but the baby kept his face buried on Din’s chest. “You don’t need to be worried if I’m not around, okay? I won’t ever leave you again, kid. You hear me?” He said while caressing one of his long ears. “I got… nervous back there. You know how I’m not good with crowds, needed to work out a bit.”

He wasn’t sure that the kid was even listening, face still buried in this chest.

-“Grogu, hey, look at me”.

The child did after a bit of hesitation.

-“I may not be around all the time, but I give you my word that I won’t ever leave you behind again, okay buddy?” He said looking straight into the kids’ eyes. “And you know how one’s word is sacred by Creed”.

The kid seemed to understand, and putting a hand on Din’s cheek, he smiled, melting the man’s heart.

-“It’s alright, pal” he said, stroking his back. “We’ll be fine”. At this point Din wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure more himself or the child, and the thought made him chuckle. “Now go join the party. I just need to freshen up and I will join you briefly.”

With a small smile, Din wiped the kid’s tears and set him on the floor. With some hesitation, Grogu started making his way to the main fire, although he kept looking back at Din, as if scared that he would vanish in the air.

-“Thank you for taking care of him while I was gone. I’m sorry he was upset” he said to Omera. He felt embarrassed for not thinking of the kid before leaving. He couldn’t help thinking that he was a horrible father. He didn’t dare look at Omera in the eyes and kept his gaze on the baby instead, as he walked towards where the other kids were laughing around the main fire.

-“You’re doing a good job with your kid, don’t doubt yourself. You both just need time to heal”

Din was shocked by her comment. She was definitely very attentive, but he again couldn’t help blaming in part his overexposed face expressions.

-“How can I be a good father to him, if I’m not even sure what one’s supposed to do?”

-“What do you remember of your biological parents?” She said.

That was a good question, he told himself. What did he remember?

-“I’m afraid not much”, the admission made his stomach turn. He always felt that by not remembering their faces, the sound of their voices, he was somehow betraying their memory. But he was so young. “I was raised in the Mandalorian’s Fighting Corps, so I never had a real parental figure there either. I don’t think I want him to grow up the way I did. I feel like I’m doing this blindly”.

-“You have a kind heart. You’ll do good with him” she said.

Even in the darkening afternoon, he could tell she was slightly blushing. He kept wondering what such a beautiful and gentle woman could see in someone like him. Him having a kind heart? He felt like he needed to get her out of her error. He wondered what had he done to have her fooled as he did.

-“Would you come join me by the fire after you’ve freshened up?” Omera asked, putting a hand over Din’s.

He nodded and left. He made quick work of washing up, changing clothes and coming back to the party. When he arrived, he saw Omera sitting on a laying tree trunk, further away from the fire than he would have expected. She was talking to another woman, but when he approached, the lady made a poor excuse and made herself scarce.

-“I hope she didn’t leave because of me” he said, slightly worried while sitting next to her.

-“She’s fine, she wanted to give us some privacy".

The wheels in Din’s head started to turn irremediably. He was not unaware of Omera’s feelings. He wasn’t unaware of his own feelings for the woman and most of the village was probably aware as well. But since the day they met, and especially since the day he first left, he had convinced himself that it wasn’t meant to be, that there was no possible way in which a life together could work for them. “But circumstances had changed now, or hadn’t they?” he asked himself.

-“Why are you sitting this far from the fire?” He finally asked.

-“I guessed you would be more comfortable not being in the middle of it. It’s less crowded here but we can still see the kids and hear the music”

Din was at a loss of words.

-“Thank you. Your kindness really knows no limits” he said, and decided not to continue at the risk of again losing control of his emotions. He often felt a bit on edge when interacting with other people. Of course there was the lack of helmet, the loss of the privacy it provided. But he kept thinking that his brain hadn’t totally healed yet, and that it may be equally affecting his control on his emotions. The thought that this inability would be permanent scared him to the deepest levels of his soul.

-“I must admit I’m actually being selfish,” she finally admitted.

Din looked at her, curious about why.

-“I was hoping you would dance with me if we were a bit away from the party".

Din couldn’t avoid dropping his jaw slightly. He saw how Omera slowly got up and turned to him, offering a hand to get up. Hesitantly, he took it and he felt how she gently brought him closer to her. All his body tensed when she put her arms around his neck. He felt his heart pounding fast in his chest. He briefly looked at her in the eyes, but felt incapable of maintaining eye contact. He missed again his helmet, which he thought could have given him the privacy needed to profit from her beautiful eyes for a bit longer. He buried his face in the side of her neck, where he found a good hiding place for his expressions, and put his arms around her waist. The smell of her skin and her hair suddenly felt very familiar, flooded him with calmness, and made all his previous tensions abandon his body in a single instant.

They danced together, with enough privacy to allow Din to close his eyes, taking in the soft music playing in the background, enjoying the warm feeling of each place where Omera’s body touched his. He felt as if in a trance, following the movements of her body. He was amazed by how natural it all felt.

They continued like this for a time he certainly couldn’t determine, until Winta approached them with a sleepy Grogu in her arms. He surprised himself when he didn’t hear them approaching. He couldn’t recall letting his guard down to the point of being unaware of his surroundings.

-“Hey there, sleepy eyes” Omera said pulling away from him, which immediately made him feel strangely cold, making him long for her body contact.

-“We’re ready to go to bed”, Winta said, looking at the groggy baby in her arms.

-“Sit and enjoy your drink" said Omera, pointing to a mug that was sitting by the tree trunk. He hadn’t even noticed it was there. “I will get the kids settled for the night” she continued.

Din nodded and after wishing the kids goodnight, saw them head for Omera’s hut.

—

After having finished his drink, Din headed back to the hut and waited for Omera, sitting in the main room, until she came quietly out of the kid’s room.

-“They finally fell asleep?” He asked.

-“They were really tired,” she answered.

-“Want to join me?” He said gesturing at the seat next to him. Doing so gave him the courage to continue. “I wanted to apologize for earlier today” he started. He realized he hadn’t really thought about what to say or how to approach the subject. “I was just a kid when I last felt anything like this.” He admitted.

-“I just wish I could help you somehow. If I understood better maybe… “

-"You’re doing enough as it is, Omera. I’m very grateful for what you’re doing for me. There are just some things I need to figure out, habits I need to unlearn. I need to adapt. I will adapt, I know I will even if it takes some time. I can only move forward. This is the Way”.

-“You looked drained. Don’t worry about anything now. Rest ”.

He nodded, and as she started to get up to leave, he took her hand, making her stop in her tracks. He couldn’t figure out from where that had come from. He pulled her back gently into the seat and, in the gentlest of movements he could ever conjure, he cupped her face with his hands. Closing his eyes, he moved his forehead to hers and gave her a Kov'nyn kiss.

When he moved away and opened his eyes, he saw the surprise in Omera’s, clearly not truly understanding what the gesture meant.

Releasing her face, she gently took Din’s hands in hers, and wishing him good night, she retreated to her bedroom leaving him again alone with his emotions.

—

Later that night, Omera heard Din murmuring, obviously having some kind of nightmare. Silently, she approached him, and in the dim light she saw him sweating. She gently put a hand on his arm, decided to release him from his traitorous mind. What she didn’t expect was for him to wake up in panic, grabbing her arm and violently forcing her to kneel down, immobilized.

Crunching her eyes, Omera grunted in both pain and fear of the man’s reaction. This caused Din to suddenly become aware of where he was.

-“Omera?” He said, as if still not believing his eyes. “Dank ferrick! Are you okay?” he continued, releasing his hold on her as it he had touched fire. “I’m so sorry, I didn't…. Did I hurt you?” He said worriedly, helping her up from where she was kneeling.

-“I’m fine, don’t worry” she said while rubbing her now sore forearm. “I came to see you, you were having a nightmare”.

-“I’m sorry I woke you up, I guess you know by now I’m not a good sleeper” he admitted.

To Din’s surprise, Omera moved to sit with him in the hammock.

-“Din, can I ask you something?” She said.

He nodded.

-“Din, are you happy here? You never answered me the first time you were here”.

-“I am, and I was, so much that it scared me” he answered.

Omera gave him a questioning look. He knew she expected him to elaborate a bit further, but he couldn’t even imagine how to start. He had never been good with words, and this was a moment where he wished he could express what he felt, let Omera understand that this had nothing to do with his happiness.

-“I hope your soul finds bonds here” she said, looking down away from Din, slightly embarrassed. This broke Din’s heart. Could she really not see his feelings for her? He felt that he failed in that sense, and was determined to correct it.

Somewhere inside he found the courage to cup Omera’s cheek and make her look at him look in the eyes.

-“It has already” he admitted.

He couldn’t help shifting his gaze to her lips. He had dreamt so many times of feeling them on his own.  

-“I’ve never kissed anyone before” he admitted, “but there is nothing I want to do more right now”.

And without any hesitation, she leaned on Din and gave him the sweetest of kisses, which he eagerly returned. He felt himself melt into her lips, not caring if he was making a bit of a fool of himself with his clumsiness. His hands found their way to her lower back, trying to get her closer to him. But just as he was starting to feel confident enough with his feelings, his movements were interrupted by Omera suddenly breaking up their kiss and getting up from the hammock. To his surprise she offered him a hand inviting him to follow her.

With some hesitation, confused about where they were going, he took her hand. When he realized she was leading them to her bedroom, Din stopped at the door, hesitantly to step inside. While she laid back down on her bed, she tended him again her hand, expecting him to join her.

After a lot of hesitation, he approached the bed and quietly laid down at a safe distance from her, not trusting himself not to lose control over the urge he had for her. He had often thought of her since he first left Sorgan. The light of the moon coming in through the window allowed him to look into her eyes, allowing him to see what he thought was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in her. She gently moved closer to him, clearly not helping his cause, but didn’t dare move away.

-“Omera…” he whispered.

He was trying frantically to find his words, those which would express how much he wanted her, how much he had thought of her, but also how scared he was to ruin all this. Of her discovering what he thought was the truth about him.

-“I’ve thought of you since you first left” she admitted, grabbing Din by his hips. “Every time I woke up, I was disappointed to not find you by my side”.

Before he could find any of those words he was looking for, she kissed him again. And after the briefest of moments he gave in and returned her kiss. She brought them even closer together, and upon feeling her hips brush over his, he felt losing any self-control he seemed to have. Breaking their kiss, he buried his face on her neck.

-“ Ni copad gar. Ni linibar gar” he murmured.

He knew she couldn’t possibly know what he was saying, but he couldn’t conjure any possible words as he felt her hands gently traveling down his back, giving Din all the confidence he needed. In a single movement, he shifted them so that he was kneeling on top of her.

He allowed himself a moment to admire how beautiful she looked under him. Even under the dim moon light that came in through the window he thought he could see a brand new set of beautiful details he hadn’t been able to admire in broad daylight: the smooth texture of her skin, the shine of her hair even in the faintest of lights…

Enamoured by the woman, he slipped his hands under her night dress, collecting all the fabric while caressing her skin on his way up to her chest. The touch of her skin sent electricity up his own arms and down his spine. He buried his head again in her neck, taking in the smell of her hair, aiming to remember it forever as if it was about to vanish and never come back. He gently stroked her breasts in the process, while trying to get as much pressure as possible on his aching groin. But he felt he was out of control now and didn’t want that. After all, this was Omera.

He was quick to pull himself up, hands slightly risen, leaving no doubt that he wished to stop.

-“Did I do something wrong?” she asked worriedly.

-“No… no… it’s just… I think we should stop here” he suggested, closing his eyes shut. Something was still preventing him from getting off of her. He felt magnetically attracted to her while his brain kept insisting to stop.

-"I’ve never…” he tried starting. “It’s just that it’s the first time that…”.

-“Oh”.

He quickly realized the mistake and chuckled.

-“No, no. You don’t understand” he tried correcting. He closed his eyes, needing more than ever to find a way to let Omera in on his feelings.

-“This type of intimacy has never been about love for me… in my previous encounters there were no feelings involved, they were just about finding… release".

He took the courage to open his eyes and found Omera’s sympathetic expression. This was not what he wanted her to understand. “Why words, so easy for some people, so difficult for him” he thought to himself.

-“What I’m trying to say is that you deserve so much more than someone like me, Omera ” he confessed. He wanted to give her so much, return just a little bit of what she had done for him, but he knew deep down and to his regret, that it wasn’t him. Slightly embarrassed, he looked down at her body, still pinned between his legs. He caressed her belly with the back of his hand, his touch light as a ghost, as if saying a final goodbye to something he was forever longing for and was about to lose. But despite his efforts to wind down, the mere touch of her skin was enough to have his desire building up again.

-“I don’t think I can be gentle with you,” he finally admitted embarrassedly between breaths.

-“Din” she started. When he still didn’t dare to look at him, she took his right hand in hers. She found again his scar, the trace of a vibroblade on a scared kid’s hand, and taking it to her lips, she kissed it.

-“Look at me, Din”. He couldn’t help but comply.

-“I don’t ask you to,” she finally said. “I’ve wanted you for so long…”

That made Din lose himself. Still kneeling on top of her, he lay on her again. In all of his being he searched for the gentleness that she deserved, covering her neck with kisses and exploring every centimeter of skin his hands could find. He found her warmth was intoxicating. He felt her reach for his belt, and lowering his pants as much as he could, she was quick to release his hardness.

He took a moment to look at her again in the eyes, still not believing that, after all the times he had daydreamed of being with her, it was actually happening. He took a lock of her hair, and gently arranged it away from her face, behind her ear. He then moved his hands down to her arms, and using all his weight, he held her down hard. And in one swift moment he penetrated her wet center making Omera arch her back in pleasure. Fully aware that his size could be uncomfortable for her, he  took a deep breath, finding the strength to allow her a brief moment to adjust to the intrusion. While still deep inside of her, he let her lose and engulfed her in his embrace, bringing her body up as close as he could to his. He wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms, feel her heartbeat against his chest. When her arms found in the back of his neck the support she knew was about to need, he couldn’t stop himself from thrusting into her with the desire and desperation of someone who had lost and gained everything in the briefest of moments. Her moans and evident pleasure only encouraged his frantic rhythm. She seemed insatiable, infatigable, and he continued with the sole motivation of hearing her moan against his ear, with the hypnotic  movement of her body matching his thrusts. Only when he felt her reach her climax while murmuring his name he allowed himself to let go and spilled himself in the tightness of her core. Connected as one, together they rode their highs, falling to rest on each other’s arms.

Lying next to Omera that night, seeing her contently curled at his side and knowing that his kid was next room, safe and hopefully happily asleep, Din realized with a smile that, for the first time, he actually felt complete, loved, safe and cared for. Like he actually had a home and a family.

Din, Omera and the children return to Sorgan. Changed the POV, now it’s Din for this and the next chapter, which will be the last. Sorry if it’s a bit slow, but needed this before the end…

Posted on AO3 on the following link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/97852803

Comments are always very appreciated!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Trigger warning for this chapter: panik attacks

Link to chapter 12

Link to chapter 14

Days passed and Din insisted on exercising, walking up and down the corridors of the palace. The droid had explicitly said that his heart tissue needed to heal first before exercise would actually help. Despite that, Din knew deep inside him that he needed the work out, probably more for his mental than for his physical health. His recovery was going slow but he had refused to go back into the bacta tank again, scared of the memories it may trigger and even more scared of these not being any longer private. Given that he was not going to profit from the benefits of recovering at Boba’s, Omera convinced him to come back to Sorgan with them and continue his recovery there. Cara had left some days back as she needed to get back to her duties as a Marshal so Boba offered to fly them all back.

They landed not far from the village, and they all descended into the Sorgan’s forest.

Din paused to take in the familiar scenery of the forest planet and turned around to see Boba on the ship’s ramp.

-“I still cannot thank you enough for what you’ve done for me, Boba”, he said, extending his arm.

Boba grabbed his forearm.

-“If you ever go back in business, contact me. I could use someone of your skills”.

-“I’m afraid for the moment that’s not an option, but I will keep it in mind. Thank you again”.

And with that, Boba boarded his ship and took off. For some seconds, they all saw the leaves and dust swirling around, the engines causing a storm of debris around them. When the forest became calm again, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was doing the right thing by staying, imposing his recovery time on Omera and the village, knowing that during that time we wouldn’t be of much use of them.

He didn’t realize that he had kept his gaze at where the ship had disappeared in between the trees, at least not until his train of thought was broken by a hand being offered to him. He looked down to see it was Omera’s, inviting him to come and join her to what he knew was going to be a new start. He took it, intertwining his fingers with hers. And they started heading towards the village followed by the children.

Din’s heart felt overwhelmed by emotions. He was sure that Omera, in her endless empathy, could very well tell what was going on through his mind, and she could probably name his feelings better than he ever could. But to avoid making a fool of himself, he decided that silence was the best course of action. So they walked together, with the only company of the sound of the birds and of the children laughing, excited to be back. Looking out of the corner of his eyes, Din saw Omera smiling, looking around her, enjoying how much the kids were excited to be back in Sorgan. But his feeling of reticence only increased with each step they took, as he realized that he was quickly getting exhausted from the walk. Omera’s warm hand provided not only physical support but also provided some reassurance that it was in Sorgan where he was meant to be.

But his hold on the woman’s hand stopped being enough when they finally arrived at the edge of the village and the first ponds came into view. The kids overpassed them running towards the huts, eager to meet their friends again, retell their adventures. Din observed how their calls alerted many of the villagers working on the ponds, most of them letting aside their work to come and greet them. Din felt now incapable of continuing, his feet refusing to take him further. Stopping dead on his tracks he lost the warmth of Omera’s hand, which only made him feel at a complete loss. Was he really doing the right thing by coming here? Could he handle integrating a completely new community of people, especially without the privacy of his helmet –which had been a guardian of his feelings for almost three decades– and the security that his armor provided?

-“I’m here for you, Din” he heard her say softly, offering again her hand. “There will be a lot of new firsts for you but I will be here to help you let me. You may have lost your armor, but nobody here will judge you for that”.

He hesitated for a brief moment, taking in Omera’s words. He didn’t doubt the villager’s good intentions and willingness to altruistically take him in, but what he actually doubted was himself. His anguish only increased by seeing all the villagers approaching, but he suddenly felt Omera taking his hand again in hers. Recovering the warm feeling of her skin against his grounded him and have him the courage to square his shoulders and keep on walking.

They were soon surrounded by many villagers, all clearly happy to see them well and back. Din felt overwhelmed by the simultaneous stimuli: people tapping his shoulder and back, others asking different questions, the different signs of their encouragement, but Omera’s presence next to him, allowed him to continue through and make it back to the barn.  The sight of the hut where he had stayed all those months back have him a renewed sense of comfort, although upon entering, they found a grinjer that had apparently recently given birth.

-“Well, this won’t work” said Omera with a chuckle. “How about if you stay with us?” She continued, startling Din with her offer. “Winta and the baby can sleep together. They’ve been doing so since we arrived in Tatooine anyway and we can arrange something for you. Otherwise Winta and I can stay with another family if you’d like more privacy”.

-“You’re very kind. I couldn’t possibly make you leave your own house”.

-“It’s settled then” she said, leading him to her hut.

—

The first time Din stepped into Omera’s hut it was with clear hesitation. He remained near the door, taking in all the details of the common space. Even though he had never admitted it, he had thought of her house in many occasions since he had first left Sorgan, what his life would have been like if he had let her take off the helmet and settle here, with her. But now, for some reason, it felt different. Hefelt different, and completely out of place, like someone unworthy and who was intruding in the privacy of a family and who didn’t belong.

-“Please come in, make yourself at home” she tried encouraging him. But he couldn’t make himself step inside. This amazing woman, to whom he owed his life, who the first time actually chose to invite him to stay, now found herself in the impossible task of helping him in his ordeal. He knew that she had a choice not to, but was sure that her infinite kindness was determining her actions. He then saw the small kitchen, which looked strangely familiar to him. “Had he been there before?” He thought to himself. He wondered if the ischemic brain injury the droid had talked about avoided him to fully remember his last time in Sorgan.  He guessed he might have taken too much time to answer to the woman’s request, because the next thing he knew, she was approaching him, and renewed her invitation by, once more, offering her hand to him.

Feeling reassured, he let these thoughts aside and stepped into the hut properly. She showed him around, where he could help himself to the kitchen and refresher and where he could put the small amount of belongings that Fett had kindly offered to him before leaving Tatooine.

-“I will install you a hammock here in the common room if that sounds okay”.

-“That would be perfect, thank you” he said with a grateful smile.

-“Sit” she offered gesturing to the kitchen. “Let me get us a drink.”

Din did as told and Omera joined him at the table with two glasses of spotchka.

-“How are you feeling? You haven’t said much since we arrived”.

-“Overwhelmed” he said, swirling the contents of his glass, nervously.

-“I’m sorry if…”

-“No, no. I’m sorry. Know that I’m very grateful for what you are all doing for me, taking me in like this. I’m just not used to it. But I don’t want to be a burden. I feel like I’m imposing myself in your life, I don't…”

-“You are not a burden, Din. I am delighted you decided to join us, for whatever time it accommodates you. You know I had hoped for you to stay with us already the first time you were here”.

He recalled their conversation by the ponds, how he could tell that she desperately wanted him to stay, and how he felt her heart shutter when he said he thought he didn’t belong.

-“Maybe you can stay among us now”.

-“I’m certainly no krill farmer,” he said, incapable of avoiding to chuckle, “but I will contribute with everything I’ve got”.

-“You will first concentrate on healing. I’m sure you will find something to do then. But finish up and let’s go get the kids and ourselves second meal. Maker knows you need to regain your strength and some weight”.

Her comment made him blush, thinking how she noticed his weight change.  He thought again of the comfort and privacy his helmet gave him and missed its protection. He felt at the mercy of his feelings, or rather at the mercy of how the comments of people around him made him feel and how it reflected on his facial expressions. But she knew she wasn’t wrong. Even though he was not a big man, he had lost a lot of weight from his ordeal. They both drank down their glasses and headed for the main hall.

—

Deep down he knew that the first meal he would eat with the other villagers would clearly a challenge for him, but he was determined to try to fit in. Omera had walked them to the main hall, where they found Winta and Grogu already settled, eating a generous serving of food while Winta talked lively to the other children about their trip off world.

They smiled at each other at the sight, and Omera sat at a nearby table and gestured to Din to join her on the only seat available across from her. He took a moment to analyze the location. From there he had a good view on the kid, which was important for him, but it would oblige him to sit with his back to the door they came in. He felt a sensation of uneasiness invade his chest, which made him incapable of joining her. He perfectly knew that this was just a habit –a necessary one in his line of work–, the result of a lifetime of navigating a cruel galaxy, where an emergency exit plan needed to be always well thought out if one was to survive. He consciously knew he was safe here, tried to convince himself that his own personal rule of sitting facing the entry and exit routes didn’t need to apply. But his mind wouldn’t stop bothering him about it, and the lack of self-control over his thoughts and emotions only made him more anxious.

He realized he was starting to make Omera worry, and his still slightly foggy mind couldn’t conjure a way to solve such a simple and absurd situation except for forcing himself to sit where Omera had offered him to. And he did.

In the meantime, Omera got up to get two servings from the running fire. From where he was standing he saw how she was approached by several people aiming  to get news from her rather than him, something he deeply appreciated given his status of disarray. He heard her promise to explain more in detail later in the evening, and she joined Din at the table with two servings.

-“Thank you” he said gratefully while she settled a good looking portion of grinjer milk cheese and some kind of bean stew in front of him. While the woman sat opposite to him and started immediately to eat her serving, Din couldn’t make himself start, the knot in his chest tightening with every passing moment, he started to worry that he would be sick. He kept looking over his shoulder to the door, and he felt silly for it. Omera, from across the table, put a hand on his forearm to reassure him.

-“Do you prefer to eat back at the house? It can be easily arranged”.

-“I’m okay” he said. He wondered why though, because he was far from okay. “I’m sorry, I just need some time to adapt, unlearn some old habits”.

He saw how Omera gave him a compassionate smile. He knew that his pain was hers, that was just who she was, but the thought of worrying her only added to his discomfort. But if he was willing to take to integrate the community that so selflessly had welcomed him, he would need to overcome this.

He tried hard to regain his composure, and instead tried to focus on watching Grogu eat. He had always found pleasure in seeing him eat his rations on the Crest, how he often enjoyed each bite even if it was just a tasteless ration bar. He tried hard to keep his emotions at bay, but his traitorous mind made him suddenly aware of the large number of people in the hall at that time, the pressure of having the plate of food in front of him, still waiting to be touched. He told himself that half of his loss of self-control was due to the brain injury, but that did nothing to help him regain control. He noticed how his breathing was also becoming faster and shallower. He recognized the symptoms; he knew he was having a panic attack. It didn’t happen often, but he did remember it happening often as a child when he first arrived at the covert.

-“Din?” Omera worried, having noticed his distress. “Breath, you’re safe here” he heard her murmur to him, gently leaning across the table.

He wanted to tell her, alert her of his distress, his need to get out. But he couldn’t concentrate any more. He realized that for a brief moment, he had lost track of his surroundings, because his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a hand on his arm, encouraging him to get up. He realized it was Omera, who was now standing next to him, looking at him gently, carrying the two plates, ready to leave and eat with him in her hut. “When had she moved over to his side?” he thought?

-“It’s okay, stay. I just need some time”.

He knew he was leaving Omera worried, but he desperately needed to get out, be alone. He quickly walked out of the main hall and towards the forest, the fresh air allowing him to regain control of his breathing. “I will be fine, I willbe fine” he kept telling himself. Walking would do him good, get the emotions in check. A small workout would probably even be better, whatever his still weak body could handle, he thought. He continued his walk with renewed wishes of retrying again to eat with the other villagers, with renewed desire to try to belong, but for now, this is where he needed to be.

Omera finally confronts Din about his feelings.

Posted on AO3 on the following link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/97454142

Comments are always very appreciated!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: references to child abuse, violence against children, medical procedures, brain injury.

Link to chapter 11

Link to chapter 13

With the child calmer and now resting, Omera returned to Din’s room, expecting to find him there. But to her surprise he was nowhere to be seen. The medical droid only said that he hadn’t been there since he had recovered consciousness.

She spent most of the afternoon looking for Din, who had literally disappeared from the palace. Nobody knew where he was and she was apparently the last to have seen him. She implicated Cara, Fennec and Boba in the search after filling them in on what had happened. After some time Boba received confirmation from one of the gamorreans guarding the main doors that the Mandalorian had left the palace on foot.

-“He probably just needed the air” said Cara, Boba and Fennec agreeing with her.

-“It’s not even very hot anymore, he should be able to stay out of trouble. Just give him some time” said Fennec, trying to calm Omera’s worries. “We all need some alone time every once in a while. Given what he has just learnt, he will need to do some thinking. I know Iwould”.

But Omera was decided to go after him. She explained she wanted to trust her intuition.

-“Very well” said Fett. “After all it was the same intuition that I guess led you to follow him that day on Sorgan and which turned out to safe his life”.

He wasn’t wrong. Something deep down inside of her told her he needed help, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

-“Take this at least ” said Cara handing her a comm device. “Hail us is you need anything”.

Nodding in agreement, she stepped into the still hot desert of Tatooine.

She walked for what it seemed to her an eternity, but she knew it was just the impression. The suns had barely moved in the sky but the time alone with her own thoughts made time seem to pass painfully slowly. She kept checking the horizon from the dunes surrounding the large palace. As the first of the suns were setting, a cool breeze promising a fresh evening in the dessert hit Omera’s face. Finally, she distinguished a figure next to a boulder. Approaching it, she realized it was a person, it was Din. His knees were up to his chest, and was absentmindedly looking at the horizon. Omera approached him with the uttermost caution, making sure not to startle him, only the maker knew how he would react. When she was at a hearing distance, she cleared her throat to make her presence evident although she was sure he was well aware of her presence. For where she was standing, she saw Din shut his eyes strongly. Omera could feel him being overwhelmed by his emotions, but he didn’t say a word.

-“Din?” she started.

She got no answer from the man

-“Din, I was looking all over for you”

-“Leave,please.I need time alone”, Din interrupted her, and put his head between his knees.

Omera approached him and kneeled by his side.

-“Please don’t shut me out… I want to help.” Omera implored. “You’re maybe used to being alone, but you don’t have to be now".

The man stayed in silence for some time, head still buried between his knees. To Omera’s horror, she realized how the sand under the man’s legs was stained with his tears. She gave him the time to start on his own and when he didn’t, she decided to tempt her luck.

-“What’s on your mind?” Omera asked. A thousand ideas must have been going through his head but she needed to know what he was thinking if she was to support him in any way. The man raised his gaze to the horizon, eyes glassy, but remained silent.

She gently reached for his shoulder, and she felt how her touch made him shudder.

-“Leave” that’s all he said.

-“Talk to me, please”.

-“Talking…” he said by opening the palm of his hand in front of his mouth… “It’s not something I do well”.

She realized he started signing again, just as he did back in the room before he left. The memories of the dream where Din was mute as a child came back rushing to her head. She wondered how emotional pain may be causing him to lose his words and be triggering the use of sign language.

-“There’s nothing you or me can do, so why talk about it anyway?” He said still refusing to look at her

-“The kid…”

Omera was interrupted by the sudden movement of the man, who turned violently to look at her.

-“Is he okay?” He said, worried.

-“Yes, yes. But he’s upset. He thinks you chose your Creed over him, because you left him with me in order to fulfill the sentence of your tribe”.

Din turned his gaze at the horizon, deep in thought.

-“I did what I had to do. I did everything I could to ensure he would be safe, and happy. What other option did I have?” he finally said with an impassive expression. It was clear he was avoiding Omera’s gaze. “What other option did I have?” he murmured, voice slightly trembling.

-“Why not run away with your kid? You could have hidden with us in Sorgan or anywhere else. What are the odds that they find you?”

-“This is not about me. This is about the kid. He deserves much more than what I can give him, more than what a broken person like me can provide. He is better off with you, having a real family instead of wandering the galaxy with a creed-less man who has lost everything. ”

-“You still didn’t deserve to die!” answered Omera raising her voice a bit more than what she had intended.

-“How could I have gone against my tribe’s decision? My own tribe determined I was not worth continuing to live after what I did. I thank you for saving me, but I should have died that day in Sorgan. This is the way” he finished almost as a whisper.

-"You don’t deserve to die ”. Repeated Omera heartbroken. “And you deserve to finally find some peace, a family and love. And when I say family, I say people who love you for who you are, and not that sentence you to death for breaking a rule that allowed you to save the life of a child, yourchild.”

-“You don’t understand“ he screamed while getting up on his feet, violently, startling Omera.

Her heart crushed into a thousand pieces. Was he angry at her for saving him? Did he regret being alive?

By getting up as fast as he did, Omera immediately realized that Din got dizzy and was about to stumble back to the ground. She was fast at getting back up on her feet and catching him, supporting him by his elbows, just enough to give him an anchoring point until his dizziness subsided. When she was sure he would not fall, she approached her hand to his neck, hesitantly.

-"May I?” she asked.

Din looked somewhat surprised, not really knowing what to say. Omera wondered how often he had had any form of physical contact. Not having rejected her, she proceeded to take his pulse on his neck, slowly enough to allow him to change his mind and avoid her touch. But he didn’t, and she felt Din slightly twitch as a response to her skin, but she was too alarmed by his elevated heart rate to think too much on it.

-“You’re tachycardic, Din. Your heart still has some trouble keeping up. Sit with me. Please”.

She thought for a moment she was getting through to him, and that he would agree to sit with her, clearly unsure he would be able to keep standing on his own. But suddenly, with renewed anger, he harshly pushed her away while trying to keep his balance and regain his breath.

-“Stay away. I should have left the kid and left Sorgan immediately. I’m not worthy of the kid’s love, oryour compassion.”

-“Why would you say that?” She said trying hard to understand what was going through the man’s mind.

-“You don’t know me! I’m not a good person!” he screamed, face full of anger while opening his fist in front of mouth followed by a vertical movement of his right hand. He was signing again.

Realizing that he had overstepped with his tone, Din closed briefly his eyes trying to regain some composure.

-“You are not evil Din, you are just hurt”.

-“You’re too kind, Omera.” he continued, clearly making some effort to stay calm. “You’ve always thought to see something in me that there is not.I wanted to believe that what you saw in me the first time I was in Sorgan was true.But the only truth is that I’m a bounty hunter. I hunt and killpeoplefor a living. Don’t think I deserve anything else than what I got. I’ve done things that largely deserve my death sentence”. He said between shaky breaths.

-“Like at Alzoc III?”. Din stood in front of her, clearly in shock, incapable of saying anything. Omera continued.

-“You dreamt of that mission while in the tank, you dreamt of…”

-“Shut up!” He replied with rage, while closing his right hand in front of his mouth. “Neither of you had any right to look into my head. My nightmares..” he said while shuffling his hands around his temples, “my memories”, he said bringing his thumb together, “ they are my own”. She could tell that he was using sign language more and more often as the conversation moved forward.

-“Who are you angry with, Din? Me, because I saved you when you had decided you didn’t deserve to live any more? With your kid for trying to calm you down through your nightmares? Or are you angry at yourself?”

Din continued staring at her, couldn’t or wouldn’t answer.

-“Grogu allowed me to see some glimpses of what troubles your mind” she continued, “and those are memories of a good hearted child who was abused and manipulated. The galaxy was cruel enough to put you in the path of some warriors that…”

-“I would have followed the same fate as my parents had they not rescued me. I owe them my life. If they say that my life is not worthy any more, who am I to say otherwise?”

-“Isay so, Din” it was her time to scream, tears now filling her eyes. “You were taken and clearly abused as a child! Allowed to integrate a machinery of war for their own…”

-“How could you imply that you know anything about… about my past?”. The man was starting to lose his breath, evident from the pauses he was making to draw some air. “Don’t talk… as if you know anything about me because you don’t”, he said while touching his forehead and making an outward movement.

Omera started to get worried by the sound of his breathing. He looked like the effort of talking started increasing with each passing moment and was also worried by the fact that he was signing more and more often. She couldn’t help thinking that the stress of the conversation was clearly taking a toll on him, both physically andemotionally.

-“If I keep these memories to myself it is because they are private.”Din screamed, emphasizing the last word by taking his thumb to touch his chin. But the effort of all the talking seemed to finally catch up with him, and started to stumble. Omera rushed to him to prevent him from falling, but he stopped her by raising one arm between them while the other reached for his leg for support, panting.

-“Go, Omera. I… I don’t deserve…” He never finished the sentence when his legs finally gave up and stumbled to the ground.

Din managed to get himself back to a sitting position and gathered his legs again up to his chest, isolating himself from Omera. He put his head between his knees trying to regain control of his heart rate and catch his breath. She gave him some time to recover, and at some point Omera thought he was clearly feeling better, his breath having almost returned to acceptable levels. She thought that if he was continuing to keep his face buried between his knees was partly to hide from her. Gathering all the courage she could, she put her hands on his forearm.

-“You say that you owe your life to the Mandalorians, who have determined that you don’t deserve to live any more. But I say that now, you owe your life to me,andIsay that you’ve paid your debt and now deserve a family and love. And I would like to give you that, Din, if you’d let me”.

The Mandalorian raised his head to look at her intensely as if not believing what he was hearing.

-“Why? Why for someone like me?”.

-“Since the first time we met, I felt a special connection to you. You’re special,Din. Plus, the child seems happy in Sorgan.” Din had his eyes wide open, clearly not believing what he was hearing.

-“Come back with us, take time to recover and enjoy time with your kid. We work hard, we live a simple life but it’s a beautiful and peaceful one, when we are not attacked by raiders, that is” she chuckled, trying to lighten up his mood.

Knees still firmly up against his chest, Din set his gaze back somewhere on the horizon, clearly thinking of Omera’s words. His anger seemed to have partially subsided. But he remained silent, deeply immersed in his thoughts.

Aiming to give him as much emotional support as she could, Omera remained sitting next to him. With the passing time, she started to get tired, and intuitively laid her head on Din’s shoulder. That clearly surprised the man, but returned to his thoughts immediately after. As the second of the suns set on the horizon, and the desert wind became fresh, Omera started to shiver. It was her time to be surprised by Din putting an arm around her shoulders, with the intention of getting her closer to him while keeping her warm.

—

Omera woke up to see a dark desert, sky clear with a million stars. She realized she had fallen asleep on Din’s shoulder, and his arm was still around her shoulders protecting her slightly from the cold desert wind.

-“Head back” she heard Din murmur softly. “You’re getting cold”.

Omera nodded and got on her feet. When she saw Din with no intention of coming with her, she tended her hand down to him.

Din looked up at her hand, pensive. But Omera was determined to not give up, and give him the time he needed to accept her offer. Her heart cried in relief and joy when, after what seemed like an eternity to her, he reached for her hand. She felt he was not only accepting her help to get back to the palace with her. Deep down she knew that, by taking her hand, he was accepting the invitation to come with her to Sorgan, live a life with her at the village, start over.

Omera helped him up and they walked in complete silence back to Fett’s palace. By the end of the walk back, Omera felt Din increasingly needing support to maintain himself upright. She offered him her arm to help, which despite some hesitation, he finally took.

When entering the palace, Omera caught a glimpse of Cara and Fennec, who were posted on an upper hallway overlooking the landing bay. They both nodded to Omera, who nodded back in acknowledgement. Din, unaware of the exchange, still struggled with the effort to walk.

They made it back to the room that Omera had shared with the kids since their arrival, and found them both on the bed, awake, Winta lively talking to the baby about something she didn’t make out.

-“You’re back!” She said excited, jumping out of the bed to welcome her mother with a big hug. After some hesitation, she moved to the Mandalorian, and to everyone’s surprise, he hugged him as well taking him in by his waist.

-“Hey kiddo” he returned with a gentle touch to her head.

Din made his way to the bed, approaching Grogu. The kid had a sad look on his face, but to Din’s surprise, he moved his open hand to his heart, just like Din did before leaving and disappearing in the desert.

-“It’s me who should be apologizing, pal”. Din took the child into his arms, who in turned hugged him back.

-“Ni kar'tayl gar darassum, Ad'ika, don’teverdoubt it”.

Din finally remembers what happened in Sorgan and Omera admits some truths that he may not be ready to handle! ^^

Posted on AO3 on the following link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/97135575

Comments are always very appreciated!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: references to child abuse, violence against children, medical procedures, brain injury.

Link to chapter 10

Link to chapter 12

During the upcoming days, Din insisted on walking up and down the corridors of the palace. His leg muscles were still extremely weak, and would often fail him, causing him occasionally to fall or at least stumble. His shortness of breath didn’t help reassuring anyone, but he still insisted on exercising and he would spend as much time as he could on his feet.

Omera took it on herself to accompany him during his walks despite his various requests to be let wander on his own. He didn’t need to be physically supported, at least not continuously, and Omera made sure to help only when he risked falling. She knew he risked nothing within the walls of the palace, but she couldn’t get herself to leave him be alone. She kept wondering if his request of being left alone to exercise came more from the habitof being alone or a real wish of being on his own. The truth was, she didn’t have the courage to ask and decided to continue being present for him as long as he didn’t openly ask her to leave.

They would often walk in silence, each comfortable within their own thoughts. But whenever they exchanged some words, always about some mundane thing, Din’s expression would soften, abandoning for a brief moment the clear effort and pain that walking caused, and that lit up Omera’s heart each time.

After one of their walks, they came back to Din’s room to find the medical droid standing, clearly waiting for his patient.

-“Din Djarin”, it commenced. “A scan of your brain and heart is required to assess the progress of your recovery”.

Din lifted one eyebrow as if uncertain on how to react.

-“Proceed to lie down so I can initiate my assessment”.

After some hesitation and Omera’s encouragement he complied with the droid, which was quick to start scanning with a mediscan both his heart and head. Omera saw how Din remained stoically and with eyes closed during the process, and wondered if he was truly okay with the process or if it was just a coping mechanism to remain calm. After a couple of minutes, the droid gave its evaluation.

-“Your improvement is advancing at a much lower rhythm than expected. A third bacta session is recommended. I will show you to the bacta tank.”

-“That won’t be necessary”, stepped in Omera trying again to win him some droid-free time. “I will take him”.

Din nodded and they moved to the room holding the tank.

-“Get yourself ready and undress. I will go find the child in the meantime”.

Din looked at her questioningly, unsure as to why the child would need, or even want, to be present.

-“He’s been by your side at each session. Let him be here for you this time as well. I promise I will explain everything in due time.”

Before he could change his mind, Omera turned to the door determined to find Grogu.

—

When she came back, baby securely in her arms, Din was already in his black shorts and inside the tank, which was filling progressively with the bacta solution. He had just enough time to greet the kid by putting his hand on the tank’s window and put the regulator in his mouth before his face was covered with the liquid. Giving in to the treatment, after a brief moment he closed his eyes.

Omera recovered her position at the chair that she had installed next to the tank. After a while trying to keep the child moderately entertained with some lap playing, to Omera’s regret, Din’s nightmares were at rendez-vous.The child cooed sadly, but Omera saw the determination in his eyes, wanting nothing more than to help his buironce again. She offered him her hand and Grogu put his other hand on the tank’s window. As the kid closed his eyes, the room around her faded away.

Next thing she knew she was walking through the forest. She recognized those trees, she was in Sorgan. She was surprised to see the big blue Mandalorian walking casually next to her. She could see her own –Din’s– boots, progressing through the forest.

-“I know we haven’t had the best of relationships, but know I hate this as much as you do”, she heard the big Mandalorian say. After a brief silence, during which she could only focus on the sound of the dry leaves under the Mandalorians’ boots, the man continued.

-“My father… he didn’t hate you as much as you think, you know? He just…”

-“Save it, Vizsla” Omera clearly heard Din’s modulated voice interrupt the blue armored man.  Vizsla, Omera thought. Wasn’t that the name she heard in the clans’ heads meeting? The one supposed to be in charge of rescuing Din as a child?

-“Let’s just get this over with” she heard Din continue.

Omera saw how they soon arrived at a clearing. To her horror, she realized it was where she had found the Mandalorian bleeding to death. The small ship the blue Mandalorian had left with was stationed in the middle. Her heart was racing. She couldn’t tell if it was Din’s or actually hers, knowing what she was about to witness. She needed to get out of there. She didn’t want to be there. Surely the child shouldn’tbe there. She thought that if she wished it strongly enough, she would somehow wake them up from the dream. But a presence was holding her tight, obliging her to stay.

-“Here we are”, the big man said.

She saw herself turn around to face the blue Mandalorian. After hearing a deep breath, she witnessed how Din stopped walking and slowly turned to face the other Mandalorian. After a brief moment, Din started removing with precision each of the pieces composing his armor, laying them in front of him with uttermost care and respect. Last came the helmet. Without the filter of the visor, her view changed dramatically, the intense light of the Sorgan sun nearly blinding her despite the trees. The colors were sharper, the greens of the leaves crisp and contrasting with the different shades of yellows and browns. Din sat on his heels in front of the big Mandalorian, and set helmet in front of him. He saw how the other man crouched as well, producing a glass in which he poured a transparent liquid.

-“CeremonialTihaar drinking, for purification”, the tall man said.“One sip for greed, three for hesitation” he said reverently.

Omera saw how Din’s gloved hands grabbed the glass.

-“One sip for greed”, he repeated while taking a sip from the glass. Omera felt how the drink burned it’s way down Din’s throat. “One for hesitation”, another sip. Omera saw that the other Mandalorian slightly tilted his head, probably astonished at Din changing what seemed the ritual’s words. “One for the anger that has filled my heart over the years”, sip. “And one last one for the people I leave behind, that have seen past what I show to be and have seen me for who I really am”. And with that Din gulped down in one shot the remaining contents of his glass of Tihaar.

Omera felt Din grab something from his boot, and horrified, saw how he produced his vibroblade which he set respectfully in front of him with the now empty glass.

-“Grogu, lets please get out of here. Please, sweetheart, we need to stop now”, Omera said outloud. Or at least she thought she had said that outloud, but there was no sign that the nightmare was stopping or that they were getting out of Din’s head.

-“You broke the Creed, and willingly removed your helmet. The tribe has determined death to be your sentence” said the blue Mandalorian with a strong voice.

-“Through the Hokaanir epan, nobody except me is owner of my fate” she heard Din say. “I broke the Creed, removed my helmet. I did it for my foundling. It was The Way, theonlyWay to get him back from the hands of those who wished him bad”.

Omera, who was focusing through Din’s eyes on the vibroblade set in front of her, saw in the corner of her eyes Grogu’s small feet, approaching her. She knew that Grogu was not there at that moment, she was sure of that. He was interacting with Din through his nightmare. She saw the questioning look in the kid’s eyes. Did he really understand what was happening? She didn’t think so, and felt how he gently put his hand on one of Din’s thighs.

Omera saw Din’s hand grab the vibroblade.

-“Grogu! Please stop this. You have to stop right now, sweetheart” she told him. But she didn’t think her heard her. “GROGU! STOP! NOW!” she felt herself scream, but there was no reaction of the baby, who still looked up to Din questioningly.

She wanted so badly to close her eyes, avoid seeing the final sacrifice that this man was willing to undertake to honor the Creed he swore as a kid, while protecting the child he had learnt to love as his own.

And with one swift movement, Omera felt the sharp pain of the vibroblade sinking in the left side of Din’s gut, and how it ripped through his abdomen all the way to the right side. Her gaze fell to her hands, Din’s hands, still holding the vibroblade lodged in the man’s gut.

She was able to look back at Grogu, now crying inconsolably while holding his arms high, as if he could have prevented what he just witnessed. She felt Din’s body tilting, losing balance despite sitting on his heels, and just as she was about to hit the ground, she found herself back in the back tank room.

Grogu was clearly in shock, eyes wide open, tears sliding down his tiny cheeks. The Mandalorian had woken up apparently at the same time they did, and was awake and thrashing uncontrollably within the tank, moving his right arm clearly fumbling for the button that would cancel the bacta session and release him from the tank. Before Omera could set down the baby to come and help Din, the bacta had already started to empty. Once she was sure that Grogu was safely on the floor, she helped the Mandalorian open the tank and get himself out. He was panting, having clear difficulty breathing. He sat on the edge of the tank trying to catch up his breath.

He saw Grogu, scared and slowly taking some steps backwards, away from his buir.

-“Hey kid”, he continued panting. “I’m sorry, I didn’t– I didn’t mean to scare you. I was dreaming…”, he tried justifying. Omera doubted he knew that Grogu was aware of what he was dreaming about, rather what he was remembering.

Grogu’s expression changed from sadness and surprise to anger, and anger neither Omera or Din had seen before in the small child.

-“Pal?” he said questioningly, struggling to get up and approach the kid to reassure him.

To both Din and Omera’s surprise, Grogu closed his eyes shut and with a sudden movement of one of his hands, used the force to send his father flying to the other side of the room. The Mandalorian’s body hit the wall of the far end of the room with a loud thunk and he fell limply to the ground.

Before Omera could approach him, Grogu’s expression turned again to sadness, clearly regretting what he had just done. But just as the first of his new tears touched the ground, he turned around and started running for the door.

Omera run to the Mandalorian. She found him unconscious and unresponsive.

-“HELP!” she screamed.

She crouched next to the limp body of the man, which she took in her arms, rocking him gently while calling him, hoping that he would wake up before she could go and attend the baby.

-“HELP!” she screamed again when she got no response from Din.

The medical droid came in and, without requiring any further explanation, started to assess the man’s medical status.

-“Stay with him”, Omera ordered the droid. “I need to find the baby”.

—

Omera rushed out of the room and into the corridor, searching for the baby. She went back to their room, and saw Winta kneeling next to the bed.

-“Momma, the baby is under the bed, he’s very upset, but he won’t come out” Winta said worriedly.

-“It’s okay, baby, you can come out now” said Omera sweetly while reaching out for him with her hand.

-“What happened, Momma?”

-“He got angry at the Mandalorian” she said, keeping things vague, with the sole purpose of protecting her own child. She actually didn’t really have the time to think about what the child was feeling and what in particular triggered the anger he showed back in the room.

-“Grogu, sweetheart, come out with us” Omera tried again, reaching with her hand further under the bed. “We are both here for you, let’s figure this out together, shall we?”.

To her surprise, the child shyly reached for her hand and came out from under the bed. He was crying, and Omera and Winta both took him in a big hug. And for the first time, unlike the previous times when he cried in silence, she heard him actually sob.

—

Omera and the kids stayed like that, sitting on the floor, comforting Grogu until he calmed down. Winta would softly talk to him about the things Boba and Fennec had been telling her about life in Tatooine. Omera melted at the empathy that her daughter was showing, she felt her heart fill with pride, sure that Winta would grow to be a sweet yet strong beautiful woman. Unless, she couldn’t help herself think, the galaxy’s ruthlessness caught up with her. The thought made her shiver. She thought of how Din’s life as a kid must have been before being taken by the Mandalorians. Did his parents think the same things she thought about Winta? A child, with a kind heart, one that she knew clearly remained though having to adapt to the culture and traditions of a cruel warrior culture.

A knock on the door interrupted her train of thought.

-“Come in” she said gently.

To her surprise, Din opened the door.

-“Din!” She said surprised. This caused Winta and Grogu to stop interacting and turn their gaze to the door.

-“Mind if I come in?”

Grogu shifted in Omera’s lap, and she saw how the baby’s expression lost all the appeasement he had gained, turning again to a mixture of sadness and anger.

-“Of course” she said out of politeness, keeping her gaze fixed on the child, trying her best to reassure him with gentle strokes on his back. Whatever was going on in the baby’s head, he needed to sort it out with his father.

The Mandalorian approached them and knelt beside them.

Omera realized he had a dressing gauze on the back of his head, probably as a result of the incident with the child.

-“How are you feeling?”

-“It’s not important,” he said, keeping his gaze fixed on the child who was doing everything possible to not look his father in the eye. For a while they all remained silent.

-“How are you, pal?”

The kid, still in Omera’s arms, kept his gaze away.

-“I remember now. Going to Sorgan”. He started, sitting more comfortably next to the woman and children. “I remember… you showed me through the force what you wanted us to do together” he said with the shyest of smiles. “You think you can tell me in the same way what is going on?”.

-“Come, Winta”, said Omera. “Let’s give them some space to talk”.

She was about to get up, when the child grabbed her by one of her sleeves, imploring with his eyes for her to stay. Omera, surprised by the kid’s reaction, looked at Din who responded with one single nod in approval. Omera still encouraged Winta to go look for Cara or Boba to see if she could be of any help to them. Winta, quickly understanding her mother’s intentions, didn’t fuss about it and left the room, which filled her mother again with pride.

The kid finally looked at his father, with angry tears filling his eyes. With no gentleness, he grabbed his father’s hand. Din’s eyes opened wide, letting Omera sense that he was being allowed to see what the kid wanted him to see.

-“You think I… don’t love you? Why would you think that?”

Din’s expression changed to one of pure sadness. He took a couple of seconds to continue concentrating on what the kid was showing him through the force. But what the kid showed Din, left him speechless, eyes and mouth big open.

-“How…?” He started, although clearly at a loss on how to continue. “Even Ididn’t remember what happened…How could you know…”.

Din looked around him, confused, until his gaze fell on Omera’s. Though he clearly wasn’t expecting an explanation, especially not from her, she felt obliged to fill him in.

-“Each bacta session seemed to plague you with nightmares. During the first session you were truly out of it, trying to break your way out of the tank. The child… he seemed to be able to help. He was capable of somehow connecting with you in your dreams, calming you down.” She took a small pause, letting the information sink in the Mandalorian’s head. It was clear to her that all these new revelations were starting to be a bit overwhelming.

-“But what he saw in your dreams clearly upset him, he began to get scared to connect with you, but he wanted so badly to help you… get you through the bacta sessions. So he started taking me in your dreams as well, I guess to feel supported”.

Din’s breaths started to accelerate.

-“I… You didn’t…” he kept trying to say something between breaths that was never managed to say. Closing his eyes, with his right open hand he made a circle movement over his heart. Omera wondered if that meant anything in sign language. But before she could ask him about it, the Mandalorian got up and left the room.

And it is up! Grogu tries to help his buiras much as he can through his bacta sessions while Omera makes some discoveries about Din’s past.

Posted on AO3 on the following link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/97011864

A huge thanks go to @azertyrobaz for all her input and comments on this chapter. The idea on Din’s hand injury during training comes from her fanfic “Apostrophe” which I totally recommend you check out if you haven’t already read it.

Any comments are always very appreciated!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: references to child abuse, violence against children, medical procedures, brain injury.

Link to chapter 8

Link to chapter 10

Boba had sent service droids to clean up the mess caused by the Mandalorian’s outburst. Some were in charge to clean the breakfast plates that Cara had brought to Omera and that were now lying on the ground as well as oil the droid oil spilled throughout the room’s floor and walls. Some other service droids were ordered to take the dismembered medical droid and repair it with urgency, given that surely the Mandalorian would be in need of it until his full recovery.

Cara had suggested strapping the Mandalorian down to the bed until he regained consciousness and showing clear signs of being aware of his surroundings. They all agreed, thinking that with a confused state of mind, his behavior could be dicey and could pose a threat to others and himself. They all agreed except Omera despite of how terribly distraught she had been from the incident. So Boba took for himself the task to bind the man to the bed through wrists and ankles.

Days passed, and there was still no indication that the Mandalorian would wake up. The kids were allowed to sit regularly with Din, who remained covered with a blanket to avoid them realizing he was tied up. Grogu cuddled often under his buir’s neck while Winta would talk lively to Boba or anyone around about mundane things and life on the planet. Omera enjoyed seeing her curiosity unleashing and was grateful for everybody’s patience with the kids. While being absorbed by the vastness of the sands of Tatooine, she couldn’t help but smile thinking about the curious nature of her child, and how it must be exciting for her to leave her home planet for the first time, even if it was under the given circumstances. Dark and negative thoughts were always haunting her, threatening to take over her heart and send her over the edge again. But whenever that would happen, she would focus on her love for her daughter, the only thing that was capable of anchoring positive feelings during the passing days.

The medical droid had been repaired, and resumed his task of taking care of the Mandalorian, surveying his progress and adjusting his treatments accordingly. Omera rarely left the man’s side, wanting to make sure he was not alone if, when(she obliged herself to think), Din woke up. She occupied herself sewing for the kids and mending things that Boba pointed out needed repair. Though he insisted that they were guests in his palace, she felt the need to start paying back their stay and making herself useful anyway she could.

One afternoon, when she was working on repairing a suit that Boba had asked her to mend, the droid started unhooking the IV’s on the Mandalorian’s arm. Alerted by this, she got up, questioningly. Without any prior notice, the droid moved a stretcher next to the man’s bed and set him on it, proceeding to take him out of the room.

-“Where are you taking him?” she finally asked.

-“His condition is not improving. A second bacta session is recommended” his mechanical voice stated.

She followed the droid back to where the bacta tank was and witnessed the process of him being installed inside the tank. After placing and securing the regulator in his mouth, the droid closed the tank and filled it up with the bacta.

By resuming her place next to the tank, a terrible feeling of déjà vu invaded her, making her think again on the first time he was immersed in the tank upon arriving on the sandy planet.

-“Recommended exposure time, 5 standard hours”, the droid said outload, and without any further detail, left the room.

Some time after, the Mandalorian started again thrashing inside the tank, not violently, but it was evident to Omera that he was again dreaming. There was nothing she could really do, so she just stayed faithfully next to him, hoping that whatever was haunting his time in the tank was not as terrifying as what she saw last.

Time seemed to pass, and Boba finally came in with a nervous Grogu in his arms.

-“This little one was starting to get fussy, he clearly wanted to see his buir”, he said, setting him on Omera’s lap next to the tank. The Mandalorian was still shifting in the tank, which made Grogu’s ears drop with a mixture of worry and sadness. Omera couldn’t help but think that, wherever he happened to be, the child was somehow capable of sensing that his father was in distress.

- “Do not worry”, Boba started anticipating the woman’s question. “It’s not uncommon to dream while in the tank. I find myself remembering old experiences with each session”.

At this point, the child was desperately trying to get to the tank, cooing nervously. Omera couldn’t but comply with the kid’s request and moved closer so he could touch the window. But once at reach, he suddenly seemed to hesitate and searched Omera’s gaze. She immediately knew what he was thinking. His father was dreaming, and he obliviously wanted to help. But by doing so meant he was also witness to the scene accounting within the man’s head. Omera couldn’t help thinking on the stress of having to see life through the eyes of a person who must have been suffered so much throughout the years. Only the maker knew what he had gone through. He hadn’t even spoken much about his life and his past, but she did recall him saying that his parents were killed and that was taken in by the Mandalorians. “What would it entail to be raised by fearless warriors?” she thought to herself. Having to immerse himself, alone, in a foreign culture, forge a new family that, if she had understood correctly, had again lost twice more.

-“I know you want to help little one. I would be scared too after what happened last time…” she finally said.

Boba stood there watching them. “Whatever do you mean?”

-“The child, he can help calm him down, but he sees all the Mandalorian is seeing. Last time it wasn’t pretty. I think he’s scared” she explained. And she was too, she had to admit to herself, but after some thinking she obliged herself to be courageous.

-“Tell you what, Grogu. If you think you can help him again, I will go in with you, deal?”

The child chirped with some relief.

-“He can show you as well?” Boba said surprised.

Omera nodded and offered her hand to Grogu, who took it with some hesitation. He then set his other hand on the window of the bacta tank and closed his eyes in concentration.

Omera’s view on the room started to fade, the sensation now being known to her though still disturbing. But nothing came on the other side. It was all darkness, she couldn’t see anything. She started to get nervous when she finally heard people talking in the distance.

-“All the other foundlings have been integrated by the different clans, but none wish to adopt him” said a deep male voice. Omera thought she could hear it being modulated, as it was with Din’s when he was wearing the helmet.

-“That’s not surprising” said a different voice. “Kid’s mute, I would even go ahead and say he’s autistic. Who would willingly take him?” There was silence among the people talking. “He will never withstand the training, he’s too weak and will always be a charge to the clan who takes him” the voice continued.

-“The circumstances of his retrieval were exceptionally… violent” stepped in a woman’s voice. “His caburhas been teaching him sign language, allowing him to communicate until he recovers from his trauma, which he will eventually. But if I have gathered you all here today, as heads of each of our clans, is to find solution to Djarin’s case. The kid witnessed everybody he knew and loved die before his eyes. And that was partly our fault. The setup should have been better conducted, and for that, I make youresponsible,Vizsla.You were in charge of the mission in Aq Vetina and should have handled the droids better” continued the woman. “That is why I say he should be taken by House Vizsla”.

-“I think I talk in the name of all clans when I say we shouldn’t waste our time with him. But should he stay with my clan, I will give the order to immediately leave him on the next habitable planet we reach” said the deep voice.

After some seconds, Omera heard the woman continue.

-“Hewill proof his value. But if no clan will willingly accept to take him and train him, he shall then integrate the Fighting Corps” said the woman. “This is the way”.

-“This is way” Omera heard everybody answer in unison.

She heard suddenly heavy footsteps approaching, and felt being jerked up.

-“Get up, you useless womp rat”. Omera thought she recognized the deepest of the modulated voices she heard before. She could suddenly see, although like through watery eyes. Had her eyes been closed? Everything was still darkened, but she could make out the outline of the corridor she was being roughly dragged down until reaching a small, dark room with a mattress on the floor.

-“Home sweet home, kid” she heard the man say, throwing her to the ground. “You are lucky to have the Alor on your side. Should I have known that you would turn out to be as you are, I would have left you die with your parents”. The man took a couple of steps back towards the entrance of the room. She could see the outline of a tall man suited with Mandalorian armor. In the darkness it was hard to distinguish the colors, but she thought it was blue, and reminded her terribly of the armor the other Mandalorian than came searching for Din on Sorgan wore. “You will join the Fighting Corps, let’s see how much you last there”, he said before stepping out from the room. In the darkness, she could only hear sobs.

Next thing she knew she was back in the bacta tank room, Grogu trying really hard to remain focused, not losing contact with the tank’s window. The Mandalorian was still moving in the tank, clearly disturbed, but it was evident that the child was still trying to get through to him. So Omera returned her contact with the child’s free hand and closed her eyes again.

She opened her eyes to see a bull’s eye in the distance. Looking left and right, she saw that she was surrounded by at least a dozen other kids, all doing target practice. Returning her gaze to the target, she saw herself pointing a blaster and shooting.

-“DJARIN!” a voice startled her somewhere from the back. “You’re supposed to be training with your non-dominant hand, that’s the whole point of the exercise”.

-“I… I can’t…” she heard a young voice whisper, gaze still focused on the target and blaster raised.

And without further notice, she felt a sharp pain in her right hand. In a single movement, she saw the blaster drop while a vibroblade went through the hand that was holding the blaster.

-“I don’t want to hear those words again. You canand you will.”

She felt herself dropping to her knees, left hand holding the injured right, badly shaking with the knife still lodged through it.In her peripheral vision she saw a tall slim Mandalorian who approached and kneeled next to her.

-“You know what your problem is. You’re stubborn, kid. But I promise you I will make a good Mandalorian out of you” the armored man said.  And with one swift movement, he retrieved the vibroblade, causing a scream of pain to reverberate in the room.

-“Now go dress your hand as you’ve been taught and come back. I expect you to complete the target practice with your lefthand before last meal is served”.

-“Yes, sir” she heard again the soft whisper, now with a small tremor in the tone, and the darkness returned until being back in the small alcove. She witnessed how, with surprising expertise for a young child, the hands in front of her started suturing the wounds in both the front and palm of the injured hand. The light was still dim in the alcove, but she saw small droplets of water falling next to a small pool of blood that had formed on the floor, just under where the kid was working. She thought them to be tears but she couldn’t hear any sobbing, just the rough breathing of a clearly hurting child. Before she could notice anything else, she saw how the thick curtain serving as a door was moved away by a small figure entering the alcove. Was it… could it be…Grogu?

With small steps, the child got closer and climbed to the sitting young Din and hugged him, putting his arms through the neck and burying his face under his chin.

Omera found herself back in the room, the Mandalorian again calm within the tank.

-“So that’s how you do it, huh?“ Omera said, searching for the kids’ gaze. "You can interact with him in his sleep? Keep him calm?”

The kid chirped in excitement, looking tired but evidently happy to have helped his buir. Omera, deeply moved for what the child was doing for his father, gave him a strong hug and then kissed him on his forehead.

Omera looked out of the window and realized the two suns had already set, the horizon being now shades of deep blue. Boba was gone from the room as well. How much time had passed? Her mind was rushing with all the information that had just been revealed to her through Din’s dreams, but she realized it was not the moment to reflect on that. There would be time for that, she thought.

-“Come on, let’s go find Winta and get you both bathed and fed, it’s getting late and you need to rest”.

Din finally wakes up, but it’s not what everyone expected :/

Cross posted in AO3 if you prefer to read it there: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/96714504

I’m not sure I will continue posting my weird writing here, so if you want to continue reading any updates on this, feel free to join me in AO3 :) Comments are always highly appreciated!! Enjoy!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: blood, injury, medical procedures.

Link to chapter 7

Link to chapter 9

Omera stayed next to the Mandalorian, Grogu still in her arms. She held the child tight, but the kid was inconsolable. She was surprised to notice that he wasn’t loud, he just allowed the tears to roll over his cheeks. She couldn’t help but think of how the galaxy must have treated him, all that he must have endured. The Mandalorian had briefly mentioned that he had lived through some hard experiences, and couldn’t help but wonder if crying in silence was an acquired habit for the small child. Omera continued rocking him and humming softly, just as she recalled doing for Winta whenever she woke up from a nightmare during the night. When the kid finally fell asleep between sobs and small hiccups, Omera took him back to their room and tugged him in next to Winta, who was fast asleep. Her chest was tight with plenty of emotions, tears that she hadn’t allowed herself to shed until now. She felt trapped, needed a way out where she could release her feelings, somewhere where she would be sure she wouldn’t let the children suffer from her need to evacuate the terrible pressure preventing her from breathing. She barely made it to the door of the large room where they were staying. She closed the door behind her, and couldn’t help but lean on it and slide down to end up sitting on the floor. Then, all her emotions just broke out, and not being nearly as silent as the small child had been, she cried for the baby, for the Mandalorian and for herself. Knees tight to her chest, she allowed everything to come out.

Her own sobs didn’t allow her to notice that Cara was kneeling next to her, she jolted when she set a hand on her shoulder.

-“Is everything alright?” she asked Omera.

-“I’m sorry, I guess I just had too much bottled up. Everything is just fine. The Mandalorian seems to be healing, the children are asleep”, she said while whipping her face with the back of her hand, trying hard to regain composure.

Cara finally sat next to her, having no doubt that Omera would need a bit more encouragement and time to share whatever was truly upsetting her. She sat next to her in silence, giving her the time to order her thoughts. They stayed like that for a while, Omera appreciating the company.

-“I think the child has… some kind of… powers?” said Omera finally, breaking the silence. “Something happened while the Mandalorian was in the tank. He kept thrashing, as if he was dreaming. The child… he put his hand on the window of the tank and…” Omera took a moment to take a deep breath. She couldn’t help but think she was about to say something crazy, and was somehow a bit embarrassed. “I think he was able to see what the Mandalorian was dreaming about, and was able to show me as well.”

Cara didn’t answer immediately, taking in all the information.

-“You must think I’m crazy…” said Omera shaking her head, interpreting Cara’s silence as clear evidence that the woman must be thinking she was out of her mind.

-“He is indeed a gifted child, and that’s why he’s being hunted”.

Shocked, Omera promptly looked back at her questioningly.

It took Cara a bit of time to find her words, but she eventually decided to satisfy Omera’s curiosity.

-“The first time he tried to choke me with his powers when he thought I was hurting the Mandalorian during an arm wrestling match”, she chuckled. “Since then, I’ve seen him heal wounds, levitate things… But that’s not the reason you are upset”, she continued, returning her gaze to Omera.

-“In this dream… In fact, I think it was more like a memory, like I could see life through his eyes. He was executing people, leaving a trail of bodies as he walked down the streets of a village. Terrified people running away from the massacre he alone was committing…”

Cara remained silent, looking at her feet.

-“You must think I am so… naïve…” she continued. “I know he’s job description includes killing people, but seeing…”

-“I think that, even if you haven’t yet admitted it out loud, you have strong feelings for the man”, interrupted Cara, still keeping her gaze down on her feet, pensive. “Don’t let what you saw affect you, at least not right now. You don’t know what it was about. It could be a memory, it could be a nightmare. But either way, we both know he’s a good person, gentle and fair when circumstances allow him to be. But it’s a difficult galaxy out there, and he’s a bounty hunter. I’m pretty sure he must have done merc work as well. People like Din… well… sometimes we do what we need to survive.”

Now it was Omera’s turn to stay silent, tears started to come again from her eyes while she turned to face Cara.

-“I understand the conflict you must be living right now. I guess… all I’m saying is that he’s a Mandalorian. War and weapons are part of his life, of his religion. Violence has been integrated into his DNA since he was a kid, and probably because of that, more than most he deserves to find some peace”.

They both stayed in comfortable silence for a while, before Cara broke the silence.

-“When was the last time you slept?”

Omera couldn’t even remember, and with the trip and the arrival, she couldn’t figure out how much time had passed since she rested last.

Her silence was all Cara needed to know. “Try to catch some sleep, join the children. I will stay with the Mandalorian and will let you know if there’s any change.”

-“Thank you Cara, you’re a good friend”. With that, she rose and, after giving a thankful last look at Cara, she went back inside her room. She found the children still asleep. Taking off her boots, and being as stealthy as possible, she joined them on the large bed where they were sleeping. Feeling slightly less distressed after talking to Cara, she put her arm around the sleeping children and fell asleep before she could even realize she had closed her eyes.

—

Omera woke up to the children waking up. Winta was hugging a yawning Grogu, still half asleep. She looked out the window to see that the horizon was being tainted with the first lights of the dawning suns.

-“Good morning, momma”.

-“Good morning sweethearts”, she said, giving them both a smile and a big kiss.

-“How is the Mandalorian?” Winta whispered.

-“He was doing better last time I checked on him. But why don’t we get you first meal and we go check ourselves?”

-“Would you like that, Grogu?” Winta said to the baby, still feeling weird to call him by his real name.

The child chirped with excitement. After all, she realized the children hadn’t eaten anything since their arrival on Tatooine (in fact neither did she), having been more worried and tired than anything else.  They all headed to the main hall where they had met Boba and Fennec the previous evening, meeting Cara on the way as she came out of another of the rooms.

-“Oh good, you’re awake!” she said. “The Mandalorian just finished his first session in the bacta tank and has been moved into this room” she said pointing at the door she has just closed.

Winta, with Grogu in her arms, was quick to pull her mother’s apron and ask her if they could go in and see him.

-“Go get first meal first, and after, sure”, Omera encouraged them.

-“Come, I will take you”, said Cara, offering Winta her hand, which she took without hesitation. “You take your time, Omera” she said turning to the woman. “I will bring you a plate to the room in a bit”.

-“Thank you, Cara. I appreciate it”.

Omera saw the kids leave with Cara, and taking a deep breath, she opened the door to the Mandalorian’s room. Her heart twisted in her chest, when she found him lying in the middle of the room on single bed. An IV stand next to it held some bags and cannulas that were attached to the man’s hand. A medical droid was working injecting something in the lines. Fett, who was standing on the opposite side of the bed, turned to Omera as she stepped inside the room.

-“Good morning Omera”, he greeted her.

-“Morning, Boba. How is he fairing?” she said, approaching them.

-“Quite good for just having finished his first session in the tank. He still needs a lot of fluid, so he will receive some before going into the tank again. You did a good job keeping him alive. He owes you his life”.

-“That’s good to hear”, Omera said with relief.

-“The hypoxic injury to the kidneys and liver seems to be almost resolved”, Boba explained. Omera turned to see his fingers and toes still lightly blue, and following her gaze, Boba was quick to reassure her.

-“That should heal as well. What is apparently more of a problem is the hypoxic damage to his heart and brain, he might need a bit more time to get over that” he continued.

And there it was again, a huge knot in her stomach formed once more. She walked around the bed to have a better look at the Mandalorian’s face. She couldn’t help but to gently move a curly lock of his hair away from his forehead, clearing his face.

-“This droid has done wonders with me, and I am confident he will do the same with Djarin. Stay strong, he will overcome this”, Boba reassured her.

He approached her, and after putting a hand on her should and giving her a reassuring look, he stepped out of the room.

Omera felt again overwhelmed being left alone to the torturous devices of her mind, which kept throwing at her ideas of how she could have been braver and done more to help him while waiting for Cara to arrive. She tried everything she could to keep those negative thoughts at bay, consciously knowing that they served no purpose and they were doing no favor to her.

The droid kept shuffling material around the Mandalorian from a nearby tray containing various instruments. She saw how it took again the mediscan, passing it over the man’s heart and looking at the readouts. He after turned to collect a vial from the same tray and inject its contents into the Mandalorian’s IV line.

At this point, Omera was more focused on what the droid was doing than on the Mandalorian. But in the corner of her eye, for an extremely brief moment, she thought the man had twitched. She turned her head to see that, without any additional movement or sound, Din had opened his eyes. She could realize he was very much out of it, but upon focusing on the droid, working on his IV line, his eyes suddenly opened wide. Before she knew it, the Mandalorian jumped out of the bed, pushing her harshly aside by hitting her chest with an open hand, making her fall backwards. Scared, she tried moving away from the Mandalorian by crawling backwards. The man had made quick work of ripping his lines. Grabbing a small knife he found on the tray, he strongly engaged on the droid. Omera couldn’t help but see the rage in the Mandalorian’s eyes, who was trying with all his might to rip out one of the droid’s arms. He growled with the effort, but after a couple of seconds, the mechanical arm detached from its owner making it spark. With one quick jolt, the droid’s arm was sent flying to the other side of the room. The droid was making unintelligible noises, at least, that’s all Omera could make out. Awkward mechanical sounds filled the room when he used the knife to stab the droid to its neck, rivulets of oil spilling on the floor. The Mandalorian then grabbed the droid’s head with his left forearm, and in one swift movement, he twisted it and ripped it off, sending the droid, as a dead weight, to the ground.

The droid lay only some meters away from Omera, sparkles jumping from it. The Mandalorian stood looking down at the droid, knife still in his hand, panting with the effort it took him to bring the droid down. His gaze, still filled with infinite rage, moved then to focus on Omera. This made her shiver. Still on the ground, she realized he was not being himself, and she unconsciously tried to move further away from the man. She then heard the door of the room open in her back. Not daring taking away her eyes from the immediate threat the Mandalorian may be posing to her, she heard the sound of plates and glasses hitting the ground behind her, and saw Cara quickly stepping in between the Mandalorian and herself, clearly aiming to protect her.

-“What the hell, Djarin” she said angrily. “Come on, calm down. Give me the knife”, she said reaching out with her hand cautiously.

The Mandalorian didn’t respond except for adjusting his stance, on a defensive mode, knife still tight in his hand pointing towards Cara.

-“Don’t you recognize me, tin can? It’s me, Cara!” She tried reasoning, but it was evident that the man was unaware of his surroundings.

Without any warning, the Mandalorian dashed towards Cara, who avoided most of his attacks trying not to hurt more the injured man. Seeing that he wasn’t giving up, after a couple of movements, she got a punch through to the Mandalorian’s gut wound, aiming to incapacitate him the time for her to regain control of the fight.

The man’s body bent forward in pain, eyes strongly closed but emitted no sound.

Omera, who was standing again, approached Cara.

-“Din, it’s us. You’re safe here. Please come back to us…” implored Omera still protected by Cara.

Something seemed to click in the Mandalorian’s foggy head. To Cara’s and Omera’s relief something started to change in his expression as well, slowly changing from the rage he was showing to surprise, and then, they realized, to horror. He looked everywhere around him, as if suddenly was more aware of his surroundings, and then returned his gaze to the women.

-“Omera?” He said, as if not believing his eyes. “Cara? What…..” he continued. Slowly, he looked at his hands, now aware they were soaked with droid oil, dropping on the floor. Upon seeing the knife still clutched in his hand, he dropped it as if it was suddenly burning him.

-“I… I” He stammered. He then started to stumble, as if his legs were soon going to give up on him. Grabbing his head with both his hands, he started falling to the ground. Cara had just the time to hold him enough for him not to get hurt with the fall.

Omera approched them and saw the Mandalorian, now on his knees, still holding his head and mumbling something about it hurting.

-“Let’s get you back to the bed” she said.

-“You think you can do that, bucket head?” Teased Cara, although Omera could well hear the worry in her voice.

Seeing that he never got to answer, both women nodded to each other and without further words, helped the man back to the bed.

Now lying, Din’s eyes still remained tightly shut, hands not letting go of his head. His breath was labored.

-“Mando, how are you feeling?” Said Omera, trying to move his hands away from his head, aiming to get a clearer view of his face.

-“O-Omera…?” He said at the sound of her voice, turning his head slightly towards her, eyes half way open, but clearly unfocused.

-“Yes, Din, it’s me. Are you in pain? Do you need something?” She continued. She could feel that the effects of adrenaline of the fight were starting to wear off, making him progressively more incoherent. His head was now lolling from one side to the other, murmuring things that the women couldn’t really work out. Omera wondered if he was even speaking basic.

-“I will go get some help”.

But the Mandalorian was quick to turn around with the clear intention of grabbing Omera by her wrist, though missing to catch her.

-“P-please… don't… don’t l-leav’” he implored, closing again his eyes. His breath started slowing down and she noticed how his arm started losing the little coordination it had, and finished by falling to the side of the bed.

-“Mando? Din!” Omera said, softly shaking him by the shoulder.

-“He’s out again” confirmed Cara. “I will go find Fett”.

Final sacrifice (chapter 7)

Next chapter already. I feel I really need to ameliorate my writing skills, but I’m really having a lot of fun writing it. Omera, Cara and the kids make it to Tatooine in time to put the Mandalorian in the bacta tank. But I’m afraid there will be consequences, physical and emotional, for everybody. A bit of Din!Whump for those of you, like me, need it!

As for the previous chapter, this wasn’t beta read, so I feel the need to apologize in advance for my poor writing skills, mistakes and ackward expressions. Please be tolerant, English is not my first language ^^

Cross posted in AO3 if you prefer to read it there: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/96599073

Comments are always highly appreciated!! Enjoy!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: blood, injury, medical procedures.

Link to chapter 6

Link to chapter 8

Cara landed at Boba’s palace thanks to the coordinates he had transmitted to her. When she opened the ramp, she found both Boba and Fennec waiting for them, accompanied by a medical droid.

-“Droid, transport the Mandalorian immediately to the medical room, stabilize him and put him in the bacta tank stat”.

-“Yes, Master Fett”.

Omera, Cara and the kids witnessed how this droid quickly loaded Din onto a repulsorlift stretcher and carried him away. Omera had to gather everything she had in her to now follow the droid, but she realized that both kids were deeply distressed and needed her more. Once Din was out of view, they all descended the ramp.

-“Cara”, welcomed Boba, both shaking forearms.

-“Thank you for answering to our call.” Cara answered. “The Mandalorian is not well, he’s lost a lot of blood. This is Omera”, she said turning to the other woman. “She found him, he wouldn’t be alive without her. And these…” she continued gesturing to the kids, “well, you know Grogu, and this is Winta, Omera’s daughter”.

-“Welcome”, stepped in Fennec. “Let’s get you settled in, you all need to rest. We will have time to catch up”.

The women and the children followed Boba and Fennec, and they were shown to their rooms and to the refreshers.

-“Take your time to settle yourselves, and join us down the hall when you’re ready” said Fett, “I will go check on the Mandalorian in the meantime”.

Omera took her time to get the children showered, and after cozily installing them in the big bed dominating the room they were assigned, she was finally able to calm them enough to put them down for the night. She then went to the hall Fett said they would be. Upon opening the doors, she found Fett, Fennec and Cara talking over some drinks and food.

-“Omera, please come join us”. Boba got up from the table and invited her to sit with them. She took a place next to Cara, opposed to Boba and Fennec who were sitting side by side.

-“Fett was just explaining that the medical droid is still performing surgery on Din, trying to fix the internal injuries he has sustained.” Cara explained, setting her hand on Omera’s on the table.

-“He will then be taken to the bacta tank and then, if you wish, you will be able to see him” continued Boba.

Omera felt numb from all this information. “Internal injuries” she thought to herself. She remembered noticing gashes in at least the small intestine. She immediately started thinking on what would have happened if she had tried to fix it herself. Would that have made any difference? Would he still make it?

Cara immediately sensed that Omera was caught in her thoughts, gaze completely absent and gently touched her shoulder.

-“Are you doing alright?” she asked.

-“Yes, sorry. Just a bit dizzy”, Omera tried reassuring them while shaking slightly her head trying to chase away all the thoughts that made her shiver.

-“You’re tired and you’re probably still weak after giving out your blood” .

-“All the more reason to eat something”, interrupted Fett gesturing at the various dishes that were being served by some droids.  “There is nothing we can do at the moment but wait”.

Cara, worn out and starving, immediately started helping herself to something to drink and to eat, while Omera, still perturbed by the events, had trouble calming herself down enough to eat. She felt her stomach making a knot, and the sole image of food threatened to make her sick. She could hear Cara, Fett and Shand talking among them, but she couldn’t really make out the words. Her mind was too overwhelmed with feelings. She tried calculating how much time had passed since they arrived, trying to estimate since how long Din was in surgery. From where she was sitting, she looked out of a window to see the last of the two suns already setting. Had they been in Sorgan, she would have bet that about three hours passed since they landed. But she realized that the rotation time of Tatooine may not necessarily be similar to Sorgan’s so there was no real way in which she could know. Her thoughts were interrupted by a glass being set in front of her.

-“Come on, drink this at least”, said Cara with a worried look on her face. “It has some sugar in it, it will help you feel a bit better if you find you can’t eat right now”.

-“Thank you”, responded Omera.

She started drinking the liquid in small sips when they were all interrupted by the medical droid which came into the room.

-“Lord Fett”, it started, “the Mandalorian has successfully gone through the surgery. All internal lacerations have been sutured. He is in the bacta tank as we speak”.

-“Good… good” said Boba. “How is he otherwise”.

-“Tests show that extremities and vital organs such as liver, kidneys and brain, have been affected by the hypoxia induced by the large blood loss. Bacta will partially help reverse the damage.”

Boba nodded to the droid, and with that, the droid turned around and left where he had come from.

Boba returned his attention to the women sitting across from the table. “I think you should eat and rest, but I can understand if you wish to see the Mandalorian now.”

-“I would like that” quickly jumped Omera.

Cara decided to give her some time to see the Mandalorian on her own. She could feel how distraught she was, and it was no secret that she had feelings for the man.

-“I will keep an ear out for the kids. I will join you later”, she said.

-“Come with me, Omera, I will show you to where the tank is”, invited Boba gesturing to the door.

—

They found the Mandalorian inside the bacta tank they spoke of. Omera was surprised by the immensity of the room where it was located, all surrounded by various accesses to what looked like a large balcony. Din laid submerged in the tank, breathing through an air regulator, dressed only in a pair of black shorts. The suture in his gut was clearly visible, a large gash running across his abdomen. Omera couldn’t help but think that the medical droid did a good looking job, probably better than what she would have achieved.

-“I’m confident he will make it through this, just be patient, bacta can work wonders”.

-“I hope you are right”, said Omera, appreciating Boba’s effort in calming her distress. “I keep wondering myself if I could have done anything more for him”.

-“What happened?”

-“I… I don’t— It’s all a bit confusing…” started Omera. She related all the details her tired mind was capable of recalling. “He arrived to the village looking to rest for some days. When he arrived he was clearly tired and distressed but he seemed better over the days. One day, another Mandalorian showed up.”

-“Don’t’ tell me, was it a woman in blue armor?”

-“No, he was clearly a man, big and bulky, but his armor was indeed blue. Din went to talk to him, and when he came back, he told me he had to leave with this other Mandalorian, and that he couldn’t take the child with him. I agreed to take the child and he left without much more explanation. I went after him, and found him some time later in the forest, stabbed and losing a vast amount of blood. I think he was stabbed by this other Mandalorian, and I think he took his armor too…”

-“Hum…”

Omera looked at Boba, surprised by his reaction.

-“My father died when I was young, but what I learned from him -and others over the years- is that Mandalorians don’t normally execute other Mandalorians. There must be something else. Maybe they fought over the Darksaber…?”

-“Darksaber?”

Boba took a deep breath. “Long story short… Upon rescuing the child from the Empire remnants that had taken him, Djarin won the saber from the man who had hired him to hunt the child in the first place. According to tradition, the Darksaber must be won in combat, and its wielder has the right to claim the throne of Mandalore. If this other Mandalorian was pretending to the throne… but even if they dueled for it, I can’t picture it being a fight to death”.

Omera was having a hard time processing all this information. Never had he mentioned anything about a saber or the Mandalorian throne during the days he was there.

-“He never mentioned anything about that. It’s true he didn’t share much since his arrival, but he did mention something about his fate, consequences for breaking his Creed. Could that explain something?”

-“It could indeed. I recall my father telling me stories about Mandalorians as a child. He sometimes spoke about the Hokaanir epan, an ancient tradition among some factions”.

-“Hok…aanir epan?”

-“It’s Mando’a, something which could roughly be translated as slashing of the gut or stomach. My father told me that when a Mandalorian fell in disgrace, he would be given the chance to take away their life by… disembowelment. It’s quite clever if you think about it, if done properly does the job fast.”

By looking at Omera’s horror in her eyes, Boba immediately regretted his last words after he said them. Omera was horrified by the possibility. Could have Din been pushed to kill himself? Was t

-“You must understand that honor is very important in Mandalorian culture” continued Boba. “Dying by one’s hand is preferred than dying under the hands of anyone else. If indeed he got in trouble with his people for breaking his Creed, for whatever reason, that could explain…”

Boba was interrupted by the sound of the main door to the room, which slowly opened with a small cracking sound. They both turned their heads to find Grogu poking his head inside.

-“Grogu, I thought you were sleeping, sweetheart”, Omera said quickly approaching the child. For a moment she thought her legs would give in, but she got to the child and welcomed him in her arms. “You couldn’t rest neither, huh?”.

The kid cooed worriedly while looking at his buirinside the bacta tank.

-“If you insist on staying here at least get yourselves comfortable and rest. We will have time to figure out everything. The Mandalorian will still be in there for some hours”.

-“Thank you Boba”

And with that, he took his leave, leaving Omera and the child settling in a chair that she had pulled closer to the tank.

-“It looks like he will be alright, Grogu. We just need to wait for the bacta to do its job. We can wait together if you like”.

And with that, the child nested in Omera’s arms, making himself confortable and laying his head on one of her forearms although without losing sight of the unconscious man in the tank.

—

Omera and Grogu, who were just dozing off, were suddenly awakened by the sound of large amounts of bubbles coming out of the air regulator in Din’s mouth. The man was slightly shoving within the tank, still unconscious but as if having a nightmare.

-“He must be dreaming”, pointed Omera out.

The kid looked at her, while making a movement as if wanting to touch the window of the tank. Omera needed no more explaination, and without letting him out of her arms, she shifted in her chair to approach the kid to the tank. Grogu set one of his hands on the window and closed his eyes, as if concentrating. Omera witnessed the whole scene, wondering what he was doing. The child stayed like that for a couple of minutes, his ears down and slightly moving as if thinking. When then, with a very sudden movement he took his hand away, as if the window burned.

The child turned around to meet Omera’s gaze, clearly distressed, eyes glassy.

-“What happened, little one?”

Omera jumped in her seat. She looked around to find herself again back sitting next to the bacta tank, still holding a now crying Grogu. Whatever happened, seemed to wake Din up as well. His face plastered with panic, he started violently hitting the window of the tank with his fists and knees, trying to get free. Omera started to worry the window would finally break.

Grogu clearly hesitated, looking shifting his gaze between Omera and the thrashing Mandalorian in the tank. After a brief moment, the child put again one of his hands on the window of the tank and with the other he took Omera’s. Not knowing what he was trying to do, she looked at him closely, and saw how the child closed his eyes again in concentration, just like before. Her heart skipped a beat (or more than one) when she felt her surroundings disappear around her. For a moment everything was blurry, and after some seconds, her view started to clear to reveal she was in the middle of what looked like a battle field, more of a village turned battle field. Snow was falling hardly, making it hard for her to see far into the horizon. Several streets opened up in front of her, flanked by rounded houses which looked like they were made of a mix of straw and ice. A gloved hand holding a blaster raised in front of her, aiming towards some humans, but mostly large furry bipeds which she recognized as talzs. They were all running away from her, many screaming in panic, some holding children in their arms. The blaster aimed and fired against everybody who run, humans and talzs, adults and, to her horror, children as well. The dead bodies pilled around her as she kept advancing and shooting. She felt herself turning around to find a purple-skinned Twi’lek female, with a large grin plastered on her face as she followed closely. “Fuck Mando, you’re hot when you unleash yourself” she said getting impossibly close. “This is epic! I knew this was going to be a good mission. Alzoc III will be in our memories for a very long time, huh?” the Twi’lek said laughing evilly. After a couple of seconds, the line of vision turned again frontward to find an agonizing human laying on the ground, eyes big with panic, arms trying aimlessly to protect itself. She felt stopping in front of the laying person. The gloved hand raised again, pointing the blaster to the unarmed figure on the ground, and without further hesitation, it shot it to the head.

-“Mando, you are safe. Calm down” she tried saying, but either he couldn’t hear her or the adrenaline running in his system was too high for him to be able to reason. He kept looking around him desperately, looking for a way out of his imprisonment, while continuing to hit the tank with all the energy he had.

-“Din, you’re in a bacta tank, you need to stay calm” she insisted.

Still in the safety of Omera’s arms, the child once again raised his hand towards his buir. She felt Grogu slightly trembling with effort. Slowly, Omera witnessed how the Mandalorian progressively started to calm down, his breaths getting slower and deeper. He blinked several times, as if finally starting to be aware of his surroundings. He looked around him, to finish setting his gaze straight to Grogu. The child settled his hand on the window of the tank, looking sadly at his buir. To Omera’s surprise, Din’s expression slowly recovered some serenity and, mirroring his child, he put his hand to where his kid’s hand was pressed on the tank. After a brief moment of looking into his child’s eyes, the Mandalorian clearly started to get drowsy. And despite the evident effort to keep his eyes open, he finally gave in and was taken again by unconsciousness.

Omera collapsed on the chair they had settled next to the tank. Tears filled her eyes and spilled without being capable of doing anything about it. A million thoughts run through her mind. The child… his abilities… He seemed to be able to see what the Mandalorian was seeing. And he was capable of sharing it with her. What she saw… was this a nightmare? A memory? Such a level of destruction and violence that, even if deep down knew existed, seeing it troubled her in the deepest of levels. She would certainly also need time to forget the laugh of the Twi’lek woman which impregnated her mind. She was clearly speaking to Din, recalled her referring to “Mando”. Omera lowered her gaze to see Grogu finally gave up as well. He moved back into Omera’s embrace, made himself as small as possible, and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Final sacrifice (chapter 6)

Here goes the next chapter. Omera gets the injured Mandalorian back to the village, but realizes she will need outside help if she’s to save him.

This chapter wasn’t beta read, so I apologize in advance for any strange wording, mistakes and ackward sentences ^^

Cross posted in AO3 if you prefer to read it there: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/96439689

Comments are always highly appreciated!! Enjoy!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: blood, injury, medical procedures.

Link to chapter 5

Link to chapter 7

Omera kept leading the Mandalorian towards the village. His weight was becoming more and more evident: she was growing tired, her muscles complaining, but also because with each passing moment, Din was less capable of taking one step after the other.

-“Come on, Din, you’ve got to keep going”, she tried encouraging him.

But his body was growing weaker; she could notice that he was fighting really hard to stay conscious, stumbling regularly. Each time, she would pull harder on the arm she had around her neck. She looked down to see that her apron was still well in place over Din’s wound, but she couldn’t help but notice that he was still losing too much blood. His free arm was no longer making the effort of holding the improvised wound dressing, but was lazily hanging on his side. Omera’s mind kept telling her they were running out of time, but these thoughts only encouraged her more. With renewed strength she kept pulling the Mandalorian towards the village.

Finally, the smell of burning wood reached her. They were close to getting help, but the brief sense of relief quickly disappeared when Din tripped with something lying on the ground (or was there?) and his fall pulled them both to the ground. Omera grunted and partly released Din’s arm to stop herself from crashing.

-“Get up, Mando, we are almost there!”.

But to Omera’s horror she didn’t get any reaction from the Mandalorian.

-“DIN!”

His eyes were closed, this head hanging forward, unconscious.

-“Not now…” she softly said, “we are almost there…”.

Filled with determination, she put one foot under her, readjusted Din’s arm again around her neck and with one painfully hard movement, she stood, taking most of Din’s body up with her. She knew she wouldn’t go far with him like this. Despite not wearing the armor, he was still too heavy for her. Her muscles were now depleted of their energy from carrying him for such a long distance.

After a couple of minutes of slowly dragging the unconscious Mandalorian, she saw among the trees the first ponds, some familiar figures in the distance. Tears of relief started to fill her eyes.

-“HELP!” she cried as strong as she could while continuing to drag the man’s body. But her legs finally gave up and couldn’t avoid but fall to the ground along with Din. She was so close! Omera took another look at the Mandalorian, who was still completely unresponsive. She turned him around to make him lay on his back. Her apron was now soaking with the man’s blood.

-“HELP!”, she cried again with all her might. “Please…”, she then couldn’t help but whisper.

She briefly caressed Din’s face, and found the strength to get up and started running towards the forest clearing leaving the injured man behind.

-“HELP!” she kept screaming. Finally, some villagers heard her. She saw how they lifted their heads to look towards where she was. Breathless and incapable of continuing, she dropped to her knees while seeing how some of her people started running towards her. She tried to regain her breath and gather all the strength she could when four villagers arrived to where she had dropped.

“Omera, what is going on?” asked one of them while helping her up.

“It’s the Mandalorian”, she panted. “He was attacked, he needs help, he’s dying.”

Helped by two of her people, she guided them quickly back to where she had left the Mandalorian. Among three of the villagers, they got him up and started carrying him quickly back to the village, while Omera followed them closely behind with the help of the fourth man who refused to let her go unassisted given the evidences of her exhaustion and distress.

-“Get him settled in my hut”, she directed as they all walked. “I have most of the medical supplies there”. But deep down she knew that his injuries were too severe for her expertise, probably even to any healer in a planet such as Sorgan. But how to get him off world? Then it hit her. Cara had left a comm device with them during one of her last visits, which started to be regular and coinciding with each new spotscha brew. Aware that her legs, which were trembling with the effort, wouldn’t take her to the main hall where the comm was, she addressed the villager who was helping her.

-“Help me to the main hall, please, we have to call for outside help”.

—

Omera managed to leave a message to Cara and came back to her hut as fast as she could. She found that the three villagers who had helped carry Din had installed him on the kitchen table. She was shocked to find Winta with Grogu in her arms, both clearly sobbing while witnessing the villagers attending the still unconscious Mandalorian. She felt terrible for not thinking on the kids, and making sure they would not be aware of the situation.

Omera knelt in front of Winta, whose eyes, full of tears, were fixed on the man on the table.

-“Winta, darling…” Omera said, trying to catch the girl’s attention.

-“Is that man…” she finally said, still not making eye contact with her mother.

-“That man is the Mandalorian. He needs help, and I need yours. The child should not have to see his father like this. Has he eaten anything at all? Do you think you can go to the main hall and feed him last meal?”

Winta finally regained her senses. She looked down at the sobbing child in her arms, and between tears, nodded to Omera.

-“Thank you, sweetheart. Be brave, we all need to be right now. We will do everything we can do make sure he’ll be alright” she said with a small smile.

With Omera’s words, the children left them to attend the injured man. Omera stepped through between the villagers and made quick work in gathering all she could possibly need: clean water, antiseptic paste, the suturing material, cotton and numerous bandages. Omera took Din’s hand to check his pulse, which she found weak and thready.

Omera quickly opened up the man’s flight suit, washed her hands and slowly pulled her blood soaked apron to check on the wound. She didn’t find as much blood flowing as she would have expected, but she thought that would probably be more due to the Mandalorian’s weak pulse. She washed the gash as much as she could and wiped it to see the extension of the injury. It took her a brief moment to realize that before closing up the wound she would need to stich what looked like a perforated small intestine. Such a task was way out of her expertise, but obliged herself to try.

After asking some of the villagers which had stayed with her for some extra light, she started to work on the man. It was a painfully meticulous work, which she couldn’t know if she was doing right or wrong. This truly disturbed her, thinking about the possibility of making things worse for him, although she guessed that he had not so many chances to start with.

At that moment the villager who had helped her to the main hall before, came running in the hut.

-“Omera!” he said urgently. “Cara messaged back. She’s not far, only one system over. She said that she will arrive to pick the Mandalorian up in a couple of standard hours”.

-“Thank the maker”, whispered Omera while wiping her face with the forearm, not really knowing—or caring- if it was sweat or tears.

With the new information, she decided to change her course of action. She thought it would be safer to pack well the wound and wait for Cara to arrive. When she knew she couldn’t possibly do any more for him, she put some antiseptic paste over the gash and dressed it tightly with clean bandages. Din hadn’t moved throughout the complete procedure, not in the slightest, which she appreciated in the sense that made things easier. But his state of complete unawareness worried her.

Until Cara’s arrival, Omera stayed close to the Mandalorian, surveying his pulse, making sure he remained stable. She couldn’t help but notice how cold and pale his skin was. She searched a heavy blanket which she used to cover him.

The landing of Cara’s ship in the vicinity of the village created commotion in the village. By now, everybody was aware of what happened, and most of the villagers witnessed the whole scene from the distance, avoiding disturbing.

Upon hearing the ship, Omera run outside to meet Cara. To her surprise, the kids had done the same, Grogu again in the comfort of Winta’s arms.

-“Thank the maker you are here, Cara. He’s in my hut” she started relating while both women walked urgently to Omera’s home, followed closely by the children.

-“Omera, what happened?” said Cara, clearly distressed.

-“I found him stabbed in the woods. I’ve done all I can to stabilize him, but he’s lost a vast amount of blood”.

Upon stepping inside the hut, Cara needed a couple of seconds to adjust to the darkness of the room. She instinctively searched for the shiny beskar armor, but she then saw a man, lying unconscious on a table and covered with heavy blankets. She was shocked to find him armor and helmetless. It suddenly hit her that she wouldn’t have known it was Din unless Omera had told her.

-“OK, let’s get him to my ship. I already contacted a common friend who has a bacta tank he can use”.

With the help of some villagers they got Din installed in the cargo bay of Cara’s ship. Most of the village had gathered around, providing support though staying out of the way.

-“Please, keep us updated with his status”, pleaded Omera while she watched Cara boarding the ship.

-“What, we are not going with him?” said a small voice from behind her.

Surprised, Omera turned around to see Winta, Grogu hanging tightly to her leg.

-“I can’t just leave you both here and go off-world, sweetheart. He’s in good hands now…”

-“Let’s all go, the child should be with his father as well”,

Omera turned again to find Cara’s gaze. She shrugged and said “It’s up to you, but if you’re coming, it has to be now”.

After a very brief moment, Omera agreed. “OK, let’s go”.

The three of them boarded to ship and Cara made quick work of getting them off world.

—

Omera and the two kids stayed close to the Mandalorian, who laid unconscious in the cargo bay on the improvised stretcher the villagers had put together to move him. Omera couldn’t help but think that Din’s skin was getting paler, but deep down she hoped it was an impression from the dim lights of the ship.

-“Hang on, people…” they heard Cara shout from the confinement of the cockpit. “We’re jumping to hyperspace in five, four…”

Winta looked to her mom with big eyes, not really understanding what was about to happen. “Of course”, Omera thought to herself. This was her first time in space, and with all the rush she hadn’t taken the time to tell her about space travelling. Omera secured her in her arms, more as a reassurance than anything else, as they felt the jump to hyperspace.

A couple of minutes after Cara stepped out of the cockpit.

-“We are on our way to Tatooine. I’m afraid that’s a bit out of the way, but I can’t think of a safer place to take him”, Cara confessed.

Omera couldn’t but nod, eyes fixed on the Mandalorian, Winta still safely in her arms.

-“I already contacted a common friend, he’s expecting us, bacta tank ready” she finished while urgently looking for something in some crates. She recovered a mediscan, which she quickly brought over to scan the injured man after removing the heavy blanket he was covered with.

-“Damn…” Cara cursed. “He’s lost a third of his blood volume, he’s in hypovolemic shock.” She took off his boots and socks only to find his feet getting a slight shade of blue.

-“How can we further help him?” asked Omera

Cara indicated her where she could find some medical supplies.

-“Get the oxygen supply kit and some IV lines and needles. We need to raise his oxygen levels to avoid any more organ damage. What blood type are you?” Cara asked her urgently.

-“A positive”

-“Mando… Mando I need you to wake up”, Cara tried to rouse the Mandalorian by slightly shaking his shoulder. “Come on, I need some help here…”

-“He’s been out since I brought him to the village”.

-“Come on, Mando…” she insisted. “DJARIN!”

The sound of his name seemed to do the job, he very sluggishly opened his eyes.

-“Come on, Din” Cara said gently tapping on his cheek. “I need to know your blood type”.

The Mandalorian was clearly too out of it, his head lolling from one side to the other, making clearly a big effort to open his eyes. Cara grabbed his face, a bit less gently than she maybe should have, to make him look at her. After a moment, the Mandalorian was able to half focus on Cara.

-“Your blood type, Din. Come on!”

-“C-Cara?”

-“Yes Mando, it’s me. I need to know your blood type”.

-“AB… AB positive” he murmured, eyes already starting to close again.

-“Thank the maker” whispered Cara. “Good, rest… but stay with us. We are getting you to a bacta tank”.

Din seemed suddenly to relax, because he closed his eyes and was out again in a matter of seconds.

-“So we need to get him a blood transfusion. I’m B negative, so both you and I can provide him with some blood. You’re ready for that?”

-“Anything”  responded Omera.

With that, Cara settled near Din, and after putting him an oxygen mask over his face, did quick work in settling the system to provide the Mandalorian with some of her blood.

-“I will go first” she said while inserting a needle into the veins in the crook of her arm. “This way I will have some time to recover and to land the ship when the time comes. I will hook you up after. With whatever we can both provide, he should be able to make it to Tatooine.”

Omera couldn’t but agree. Cara was clearly ready for this type of situation and couldn’t help but think the horrors she must have seen and lived during the war, all leading her to be very at ease with these type of procedures. The thought gave her chills, and thought that probably it had been the same for the Mandalorian, obliged to fight to survive in a terribly violent and cruel galaxy. Her heart warmed with gratitude at the thought of the chance she got to live and raise Winta in a peaceful planet such as Sorgan.

Time in space passed in silence. Omera had taken the kids away from the cargo bay, trying to avoid them worrying too much by whatever means she could find. When she came to check on Cara, she found her dozing off. Given the time she had spent connected to the IV line, she decided that it was probably her turn. Omera helped Cara up and settle her own line, while Cara, a bit weak on her legs, joined the children in the cockpit.

Coming back to the loneliness of the cargo back, Omera felt herself once again overwhealmed by her thoughts. She couldn’t but reflect on what had happened, and relived the events since the Mandalorian, –Din, had taken his helmet off to share a drink with her. Her mind was clearly playing with her feelings, throwing at her bunch of extremely vivid and detailed images, on what they had gone through during the hours. The deepness of Din’s eyes where one of them, the tear he had shed when he asked her to take care of the kid for him.

Luckily, her thoughts were interrupted by Cara, who spoke from the cockpit.

-“Stop the transfusion and secure Mando for landing. We will drop out of hyperspace in a couple of minutes and land soon after”.

After acknowledging the information, Cara popped out of the door to the cockpit.

-“How is he doing? Any change?”

-“Nothing, he hasn’t moved one bit”, she said sadly, returning her gaze to the lying man.

-“Hang in there, we’re almost there”.

Final sacrifice (Chapter 5)

Here goes the next chapter. Omera finds the Mandalorian!

Again a HUGE thanks to @queenjules907 for beta reading this. Cross posted in AO3 if you prefer to read it there: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/96225595

Comments are highly appreciated!! Enjoy!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: blood, injury, medical procedures.

Link to chapter 4

After their conversation, Omera stayed a while inside her hut. She found herself needing to sit back down at the table, a thousand feelings and thoughts running through her head. What could possibly be happening to Din? Who was this blue-armored Mandalorian and what kind of fate had they decided for him for removing his helmet? If he really did it to save his child, how could such a behavior be punished in any way? After a while she got up and headed towards the barn, with more questions than answers. She needed answers, she couldn’t lose the Mandalorian—Din, again, especially knowing that his intention was not to come back.

She rushed out of her hut aiming to catch up with the Mandalorian, decided to get someanswers, when she almost ran into Grogu. He was clearly in distress, sobbing, holding something in his hand. She crouched down to take the kid in her arms, and could then see what the child was holding. It was the signet that the Mandalorian wore on his right pauldron since his arrival. Did this mean he was truly never returning to them? She looked up around her to find Winta playing out by the ponds and ran to her.

-“Winta!” She called out, slightly breathless from both the stress and running to find her daughter. “Winta, sweetheart”, she said as calmly as she could, “I need you to look after the baby for a while, could you do that for me, please?”

-“Sure mom, but what’s going on?” Winta said worriedly, seeing the look in her mother’s eyes and the crying baby in her arms. She was clearly scaring her daughter, she tried harder to regain her composure.

-“I just need to talk to the Mandalorian about something. I will be back as soon as I can. Don’t worry, just try to keep the baby busy, he’s a bit upset since he woke up from his nap.”

After making sure that they would be all right, she started walking as naturally as possible towards the edge of the forest. She crossed a couple of villagers working by the nearest ponds, and asked them if they had seen the Mandalorian. They all agreed he had just seen him and were able to point the direction he took. After thanking them, she headed on the same direction, taking this time to analyze what she knew. Where could the Mandalorian have gone? He said he had no ship anymore, could have he gone towards the inn to try and find a ride out of Sorgan? He had said he was supposed to leave with the new Mandalorian. She then remembered the ship that had passed by them when they were bathing in the creek. Could that ship belong to this other Mandalorian? Based on where they were when they saw the ship fly by, she tried to infer where the ship was flying and where it might have landed and decided to head there. It was roughly the direction the other villagers had pointed out. Once she reached the tree line, and after ensuring that nobody was looking, she started running as if her life depended on it.

While running through the forest, she kept thinking about the direction the ship had taken, double checking on the sun’s position to check that she was running in the right direction. She ran until her legs couldn’t keep up and started walking briskly, keeping the course as best as she could. After a while, which was difficult for her to say if it was minutes or hours, she heard a gun clicking behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks, not daring to make a move.

-“Raise your hands and turn around very slowly.” A deep voice modulated by a vocoder said.

Omera did as she was told, only to find herself on the wrong side of the blaster of the blue-armored Mandalorian. He was big, and wide, nothing like Din, and he was carrying a large sack on his back. While all of her senses were panicking, she knew he was one of Din’s clan members. Could he really be a threat? He might be the only one able to tell her about Din’s whereabouts.

-“You…” she said, slowly lowering her hands.

Still pointing his blaster at Omera Paz made a movement towards her, not giving her any reassurance that he was friend rather than foe. A clinging, like metal hitting metal, originated from the enormous sack the big Mandalorian was carrying on his back, and this made her shudder. Could he be carrying…

-“You are one of those krill farmers…”

-“Where’s Din?”

Paz slowly lowered his blaster and secured it in his holster.

-“I’m sorry.” With that, he turned around and headed back into the forest.

-“NO! WAIT!”

Paz stopped in his tracks, but remained with his back to her.

-“Please explain.” she begged. “I need to know.”

After a few seconds, Paz resumed walking, followed by Omera. She kept a safe distance but had no doubt that this other Mandalorian knew perfectly well she was following. Among the trees she saw a ship, its ramp lowered. She watched as the big Mandalorian boarded the ship, laid the bulky bag next to him and, after giving Omera one last look, he pressed a button on its side which closed the ramp. After a moment, the ship’s engines began to roar and the ship took off, taking with it Omera’s hopes to see Din again. The small clearing was a mess of wind and leaves swirling in all directions, and Omera had to protect her eyes with her arms. After a brief moment, the forest regained its usual calm after the ship departed. It was only then that she saw something lying on the ground in the distance. She couldn’t quite make it out from where she was standing, so she slowly approached the lump on the ground, straining her eyes trying to figure out what it was. To her horror, she realized it was a body, a human body. She ran towards it, and when she was close enough, she saw it was Din, stripped of his beskar and weapons, dressed only in his flightsuit and laying in a puddle of his own blood. A vibroknife protruded from his gut, which he held in one of his hands.

-“MANDO!” she screamed, terrified to move him. “DIN, WAKE UP!”. When there was no response, she moved the layers protecting his neck to check for a pulse. It was barely there, but he was alive. Panting, she felt the panic growing in her chest. She looked all around her, not really knowing what she was looking for, she knew she needed to act fast, but how to proceed? Several options ran through her mind, but she knew she needed to choose her next actions wisely if she was to save him. She couldn’t possibly drag an unconscious man back to the village by herself in time to save him. Could she run back to the village to get a cart and be back in time? He would probably bleed to death by the time they made it back. She needed to stabilize him where he lay. She couldn’t find any other option. If she removed the blade, he would surely start bleeding profusely, and after all the blood he had already lost, she was sure he couldn’t afford to lose any more. She needed something to dress his wound once the blade was removed. Her first idea was his cape, but it looked extremely dirty from lying on the ground. In one swift movement, she untied her apron, and pressed on the wound as tightly as she could. She took a couple of deep breaths to steady her trembling hands and reached for the blade. Din’s hand fell from the handle, and she grabbed it determinedly and pulled it out. The pain made the Mandalorian regain his senses, arching his body in agony. Omera threw the knife aside carelessly and tried to hold him down as she pressed the apron to the slash in his gut. She pressed as hard as she could to prevent additional loss of blood, preventing the writhing Mandalorian from excessively moving around. He panted and reached out with his hands as if wanting to escape from what was causing him such extreme pain.

-“MANDO, I NEED YOU TO CALMDOWN.”

The sound of her voice seemed to have a brief effect, but he then began moving again, trying to grab something that would allow him to regain control over his body. He was clearly disoriented.

-“It’s me, Omera. I need to pack your wound before I can move you to the village.” She explained.

Din’s mind began to clear, which encouraged Omera to keep talking to him without removing the pressure on his wound. “I need to stop the bleeding; you already lost too much blood as it is.”

Din’s head lolled from one side to the other, as he tried to clear the fog in his mind. “No… no, this… d ‘s not supposed to happ’n, leave…” He said groggily.

-“Stop fighting me, Din. You don’t know me if you think I’m just going to let you die like this.”

She put additional pressure to the wound, and when she was sure that the bleeding had reduced, she used the laces of the apron to tie the piece in place as tightly as she could. This made the Mandalorian scream in pain again, but this only reinforced Omera’s determination.

-“I need you to get up, Din. We need to get you back to the village.”

She could tell his mind was very foggy and he couldn’t make much sense of the words. Omera tried again to get through to him. “Simple sentences, keep wording to a minimum.” She told herself.

-“UP, DIN!” she commanded.

He slowly opened his glassy and unfocused eyes. Omera wasn’t even sure he could see anything.

-“M’ not s’posed… I accept…”

-“Well, –I–DON’T!” Omera cried wrapping his arm around her neck. “On three: one, two… THREE!”

At that moment, Din felt Omera pulling him up. The excruciating pain of being moved to a vertical position made him scream, the sound making Omera’s blood freeze. Once upright, she gave him a moment for his blood to return to the Mandalorian’s foggy head. She started moving and to her relief, he sluggishly followed Omera’s guiding steps. He barely had control of his legs, and continued tripping over debris on the ground, even tripping over his own feet, but they slowly started to make their way towards the village.

Final sacrifice (Chapter 4)

Here’s chapter 4. Again a HUGE thanks to @queenjules907 for beta reading this. Cross posted in AO3 if you prefer to read it there: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38372269/chapters/96170605

Hope you enjoy!

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: nothing major for this chapter, maybe a bit of angst.

Link to chapter 3

Link to chapter 5

Back in the barn after their day swimming, Din finally laid the tired baby in his crib for a nap. Just as he did so, he heard some soft footsteps on the barn’s porch.

-“Knock knock.”

He just couldn’t get over the sweetness of her voice, it was nothing he had heard before in the galaxy but he couldn’t but notice there was a sense of urgency in the way she spoke.

-“Come in.” He said softly, trying not to wake up Grogu.

Omera stepped into the barn to see the Mandalorian bending over the crib, gently covering the sleeping baby with a soft blanket. The fact that he paid special attention to his feet being well covered and tucked in with the blanket made her smile. But she suddenly remembered why she had come searching for the Mandalorian, and the sensation of urgency got hold again in her chest.

-“Mando, someone is out in the ponds. He wears armor like yours, except that it is blue. He hasn’t said a word or approached the village. We don’t dare come to him, we wanted to tell you first.”

Omera was shocked that Din remained impassive, as if he was expecting this other Mandalorian’s arrival. She saw how he gave one last look at the sleeping baby and gently caressed his cheek with his gloved thumb. Then turned to her.

-“I’ll come out to speak to him. Thank you Omera.”

Slowly he stepped out of the barn, moving past Omera to the exit. She wrung her hands nervously. Was this why he was worried about when he arrived? He didn’t look surprised by the presence of another one of his kind, here on Sorgan! She couldn’t possibly understand what all this was about and she stepped out of the barn to see Din walking slowly but surely towards this blue-armored Mandalorian. She remained frozen in place, and she didn’t dare move, taking in all the possible information she could gather from the scene she was witnessing.

Din arrived to face the unknown man, and after a couple of seconds of what looked like they were staring at each other, they greeted each other by grabbing each other’s forearms. She saw how Din looked down to his feet while the other Mandalorian gestured them to move into the forest, and they both disappeared among the trees.

—

Omera occupied herself doing tasks around the barn, keeping an ear out for the sleeping baby, in case he would wake up and worried about the absence of his protector. It took her by surprise when, when she looked up from a net she was repairing, she saw Din walking steadily towards the barn, with no sign of the other Mandalorian. He acknowledged her presence by giving her a brief vow of his head, and headed straight inside the barn, to see the baby still sleeping in his crib. Omera had followed, and was now gently holding the barn’s door frame.

-“He hasn’t even stirred since you left, he must have been exhausted from your morning together.”

Din couldn’t help but smile behind his visor. He then turned to Omera.

-“Could I— could we just sit together for a while, maybe over a drink?”

Shocked by his request, she straightened, taking a couple of seconds processing his words, trying to find his eyes through the transparent steel of his visor. “Over a drink?” she thought to herself. The time he was among them, after having beaten the raiders, he would never eat or drink in public. But she was quick to overcome her surprise and moved to gesture him to out of the barn.

-“Of course, let’s move to my hut, let the baby rest.”

Together they entered her home, and Omera invited him to sit on her small kitchen table while she poured two glasses or their traditional blue drink. She turned to the table where Din had sat, and after offering him one of the two glasses, she sat across the table facing the Mandalorian.

-“Thank you.” said the Mandalorian.

Din looked down at the glass, and took it gently, mindlessly swirling its contents within the glass. Omera mirrored his behavior, and then took a sip of the drink, hoping to give the Mandalorian a few minutes of silence, hoping that would allow him to get his ideas in order. After what felt like hours, Din put down the glass, and in a swift movement, raised his hands and pulled off his helmet. Omera was at a loss on how to react. Frozen by what was happening, she starred at him with eyes big open, lips slightly apart. He kept his gaze down during the whole process, avoiding all eye contact with Omera, and the glass of spotchka provided the perfect excuse. But she was still able to see his eyes were glassy and that he was blinking repeatedly. She guessed it could have been the exposure to the unfiltered light without the protection of his visor, although she had the feeling it had more to do to keeping his emotions in check. Keeping his eyes fixed on the glass, he strongly closed his eyes, as in pain, and took a sip of spotchka. As if the drink gave him the courage to admit what was going on, he set down again the glass and he looked at Omera through his eyelashes, unable to maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds at a time. Omera was taken aback from the beauty of Din’s eyes, but also all the pain they reflected. She reached across the table and took his hand, attempting to give solace to this man who was obviously badly hurting.

-“I will not beat around the bush” he finally said, breaking the silence while still keeping his gaze on the glass. “I’m extremely sorry to have to ask you a big favor.”

-“Anything.”

It took Din another deep breath and another sip of spotchka to find the courage to look Omera in the eyes. “I have to ask you to take the kid. The people who were hunting him are no longer… they will not be a problem any more. But I will be unable to continue caring for him— I know he’s happy here, and I can’t help but think…” His throat was getting dry by the minute, getting harder to talk. He swallowed hardly and tried to continue. “…I can’t help by think on your words to me last time we were here. He couldhave a good life here”.

-“My promise still stands, you know I would care for him as one of my own”.

Din lowered again his gaze, and to Omera’s horror, she saw one single tear running down his cheek. Din couldn’t continue, he was struggling for words, he wanted to say so much to Omera, but no words that came to his mind could possible convey how sad he was for leaving his child, and how grateful he was for what she was agreeing to do.

-“Please talk to me, Mandalorian. What happened?” Omera said, her words were full of anguish. This didn’t go unnoticed to Din, and gave him a bit of strength to continue talking, if it was only to give her even a bit of the peace she deserved.

-“Din… my name is Din.”

-“Din…” She couldn’t help but give him a painful smile, finally able to know his name. There were many times when she thought that this man, everyone referred to as “Mando” musthave a name. “Who was that man in the blue armor?”

-“ The mandalorian outside, he’s a member of my tribe. He came…” Din cleared his throat, giving him a brief pause to think on how to explain what was going on. He shook his head, as if changing his mind on how to proceed and restarted. “During my quest to find the child’s people, he got taken from me by the men that were after him. Many sacrifices needed to be made to get him back safely, and breaking my Creed was one of them.”

Din paused to find the right words. Omera waited patiently and once again took his hand. How could he possibly tell her what was about to happen to him? She deserved to know, but she didn’t deserve the pain that would go along with knowing the truth.

Omera couldn’t understand. Her grip on Din’s wrist tightened. Din could feel her distress, her unsaid questions. He lifted up his head to look straight into Omera’s eyes, with an intense gaze that he hadn’t been able to maintain until now.

-“Breaking my Creed… it doesn’t come without consequences. I have to leave with the man outside. I won’t be able to come back… I don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry”. Din looked up to the ceiling, as if he there would find the correct words to use. He could feel his eyes welling up with tears again, but he refused to give in, he couldn’t, for her. He just wanted to keep Omera from suffering, she surely didn’t deserve to go through this.

-“I’m at peace with my clan’s decision on my fate, specially knowing that the child will be safe and loved here with you. But Grogu can’t come with me this time…” Din saw the surprise in Omera’s eyes. Of course, he hadn’t disclosed the kid’s name since their arrival.

-“During my quest, I found out his name. Grogu…” he continued while returning his gaze to the ceiling, trying harder than ever to keep the tears at bay.  “He’s a very special kid, he’s suffered and been through so much… more than anybody he deserves the peace he finds among your people. I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to take him. I can leave in peace.”

Omera couldn’t figure out if he was repeating this for himself or for her. Where was he off to that meant he couldn’t take the kid with him?

He stood up from the table, as Omera did the same. Din stood very still, only centimeters apart from her, keeping himself from taking her hand again and telling her the many things he needed to tell her. But telling her all he felt would be very egoistic. He shouldn’t be doing this for him, but for her. For her, he would keep his feelings to himself. It wouldn’t be fair to her to tell her his feelings for her at this point, and soon it wouldn’t matter much anyway. “Thank you… Thankyou, Omera”, he said finally. He put on the helmet and headed out of her hut, leaving her standing with her back to the door, staring incredulously into the emptiness of her hut.

Final sacrifice (chapter 3)

Wrote this chapter overnight while looking over my sick kid. This was not beta read, so hope it is readeable! I posted this fic at AO3 if you prefer to read it there, my username is the same. As always, comments are greatly appreciated ^^

Final sacrifice

General synopsis: AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: nothing major for these first chapter

Link to chapters 1 & 2

Link to chapter 4

The following morning Din woke up where they settled in the barn, baby cozily sleeping by his side. He couldn’t help but smile, seeing his foundling peacefully sleeping after the excitement of being reunited with the village kids. He couldn’t help but remember what Ashoka had told him, about Grogu having been taken from the jedi temple. “After that, his memories become dark”, he recalled her saying. A feeling of anguish filled his chest. He would make sure that Grogu had the best possible life even if it was the last thing he did.

The child stirred in his sleep and sluggishly opened his eyes to meet those of his protector.

-“Morning, kid. Did you sleep well?” he greeted him.

Grogu answered with a lazy coo while he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

Din was alerted by some soft footsteps on the porch, and was quick to grab his helmet and put it back on. He tuned up the sounds to better hear what was going on outside. He clearly heard Winta speaking in very low voice.

-“Butmom…” she was whining, “I’m sure they are already awake, I could give first meal to the child so that the Mandalorian can rest longer”.

-“Shhh, Winta, please”, answered Omera in even a lower voice, “I’ve already asked you to let them be. They’ve had a long trip to get here”.

Din looked back at the kid, who was clearly also aware of Winta being just outside the hut, the slight movement of his ears being proof that he could also hear them speaking.

Grogu was quick to jump out of the cot and run out to meet Winta. Din took the time to put on his flight suit and meet them. After a brief moment, he pulled the curtain serving as the barn’s door aside though not completely stepping outside as he was unarmored. Omera, who was kneeling next to the kids, turned to see him.

-“Morning, I hope we didn’t…” Omera couldn’t but stop at the sight of the Mandalorian without his armor. It was the first time he had seen him like this and she couldn’t help but realize how much bulkier the armor made him look. “ I hope we didn’t wake you up”, she was finally able to finish.

-“Not at all, we were awake after a very good night of sleep”, he reassured her.

-“Can I feed him first meal, Mr. Mandalorian?” Winta asked gesturing towards the baby.

-“I’m sure we will be happy to, thank you Winta”.

-“I’ll bring you a serving right now to the barn” Omera proposed.

 —

Days passed, and clan Mudhorn spent their time mostly together, especially when Grogu was not playing with the village kids. Din tried to spend as much time with this foundling as he could. Sometimes they walked in the forest, Grogu happy to chase bugs and frogs. Din found out that the child liked to collect pebbles and leafs with uncommon shapes or colors, and he was assigned to carry them all back to the barn. Whenever the Mandalorian would lose one of the many items Grogu collected during their walks, the kid would immediately realize it, and would scold Din, in his own, gentle way. This always made Din chuckle, wondering how he was capable of remembering all the things he had collected. Other days they helped the villagers with some of their tasks, the child happy to show off his force-wielding powers when his buirwas around. They profited to take naps and rest, often under an especially large tree located behind the barn, which was mostly out of the way of the villagers. In the afternoon it gave a very nice shade from the intense Sorgan’s sun.

With each passing day, Din grew increasingly nervous, thinking that, sooner rather than later, their tribe would come looking for him to inform him of the outcome of their deliberations. But he always tried to make the best of each day, keeping his feelings as controlled as possible, well aware that the child was extremely sensitive to his moods.

One especially sunny morning, while Din was having his first meal in the privacy of the barn, the child came in, clearly looking for him.

-“Hi kid, so what do you want to do today?”, Din asked, sure that Grogu had some fun activity in mind for the day. After a brief moment, the child started cooing and pulling his leg towards the barn’s door, making incomprehensible noises that clearly reflected excitement.

-“Whoa, take it easy kid, let me finishing first meal and get my helmet first. What do you have in mind?”.

This made the kid stop dead in his tracks, and after a couple of seconds, he pulled the leg of his flight suit, clearly asking Din to get to his eye level.

Din obliged and kneeled in front of his foundling, and to his surprise, Grogu reached to put his small hands on both sides of his temples. The touch was still foreign to him, not used to anybody touching his face. But he gave in to the sensation, as this was clearly something his foundling wanted. Grogu closed his eyes in concentration, and in a brief moment, Din was no longer in the barn. Instead he could see in his mind’s eye the village children, including Winta, bathing in a creek, splashing each other and laughing as in slow motion. Two small three-fingered green hands appeared in his line of view, waving at the kids in the background.

Grogu broke the contact with his buir, and Din opened his eyes, not even realizing he had closed them.

-“How… How did you do that, kid?” Din had trouble believing what had just happened. “When did you learn to do that? Was this a… were these your memories, Grogu?” Din was overwhelmed realizing how strong his kid was becoming. Even if he could not fully comprehend how his “powers” worked, he could understand that this “force” thing was clearly a very powerful tool, and that the training the kid had received was clearly extensive. Ashoka had said herself that many masters had trained him over the years. He felt sad that Grogu had to hide his abilities and all he had learned in order to survive. But Din was able to regain his composure, set his feelings aside and concentrate on Grogu’s.

-“Is this what you want to do today? Go swimming?” he finally said.

The child cooed again with excitement, pulling again the Mandalorian outside. Din obliged, and after putting his helmet back on, he followed the child where he was clearly set to go.

—

On their way to the forest, they passed near a pond where Omera was working harvesting krill, up to her waist in water. Winta was kneeling at the edge of the pond, helping her mother pull up the baskets full of krill, her back to them.

-“Morning!”, Omera greeted them in the distance. Winta, surprised, looked back to see Grogu walking towards her. With the excitement to see the baby, she dropped the basket she was holding and went to greet them both.

-“Where are you off to?” asked Winta curious, kneeling to hug and take the baby in her arms.

-“Morning. I’m not really sure” the Mandalorian answered. “But he’s determined to go swimming somewhere you maybe have taken him before?”.

-“Ohyes! We went to the river bend with some other kids”.

-“Sand has accumulated in the past years and formed a small beach, we go there often to bathe. It’s great for the children to play”, explained Omera.

-“Mom, can I go with them… please?”asked Winta to her mom with pleading eyes.

-“If the Mandalorian is OK with the company…”

Din looked down at the children, knowing that these two had a hard time being away from each other.

-“Sure”, he confirmed. Deep down, he was hoping that Omera would suggest coming as well. When she didn’t, Din found, surprising even himself, the courage to ask her. “Can you spare some time to join us as well?”

Omera looked at the krill-filled baskets on the edge of the pond as if evaluating the amount of work she still had at hand.

-“It’s indeed a beautiful sunny day”, she finally said. “It would be a shame not to profit from it. Let me just get these baskets to the hut and I’ll gladly join you”.

Omera was heading to the side of the pond and was about to step out when a gloved hand appeared in front of her. She looked up to see the Mandalorian, offering her help to get out of the pond. Her heart filled with warmth and she couldn’t help blushing, which made her feel slightly embarrassed. But she took his hand, extremely aware of the texture of the worn out leather of his glove. She immediately felt being lifted from the water, as if she weighted nothing, and was quickly and effortlessly on the shore, standing barely half a meter away from the Mandalorian. His imposing figure made her flutter, but she still found the courage to look into his visor, as if expecting to meet his eyes. To her surprise, and before she could thank him, Din quickly turned around to collect the largest basket lying on the floor.

-“Here, let me help you”, he said.

Omera took the smaller basket and they both started heading towards the hut where he knew they stored the krill before it was processed.

-“Mom, can we start heading to the creek?” Winta interrupted.

Omera looked at the Mandalorian, as if seeking approval. With a nod of Din’s helmet, she answered.

-“Sure, but stay together, and wait until we arrive before going in the water. We won’t be far behind”.

With that, they both saw how the kids started running towards the edge of the forest, Grogu trying to keep up with Winta’s pace. Din and Omera headed back, awkward silence between them. Omera knew the Mandalorian was usually comfortable in such situations, but couldn’t help but try and break the silence.

-“Several villagers have pointed out you’ve been helping out with village chores. That’s very kind of you, thank you, but you really don’t need to feel obliged.”

-“I’m not used to having so much free time in my hands, I’m happy to help. You’ve been very kind in letting us stay at the barn”

-“I hope you and your child are still finding the time to relax and recover from your ordeals”.

-“We have. I find it surprising that the galaxy’s violence has spared places like Sorgan, it feels like a sanctuary”.

Omera hummed in agreement and they both continued in silence, leaving the krill in the hut and until reaching the river. The kids had kept their word and were patiently waiting by the water before going in. Grogu was collecting new pebbles, with the help of Winta.

-“I think you have enough rocks, kid” said the Mandalorian upon reaching them.

-“You’re here! Can we go swimming now?” said Winta with excitement.

Omera nodded while she smiled at the children’s excitement. She turned to Din, who couldn’t but be amazed by her beautiful expression. He couldn’t help but think how this woman was meant to be a mother, the total empathy she had for the children’s feelings, the ease with which she cared for them. Her next words broke Din’s chain of thought, bringing him back to the present.

-“I will go in as well to help your child, if it’s OK with you. I noticed last time he’s still not very at ease in the water”.

-“I haven’t have had the time to properly teach him. Thank you”, he answered.

Omera started taking off her boots and her heavier layers, following Winta and the Child, who had already stripped to their undergarments, into the water. Din was at a loss on how to react, and stood near the water, taking in the events befalling before him. Omera’s curves were clearer now, without the heavy collar and the apron she usually wore. He couldn’t help but think that Sorgan was indeed a Sanctuary. He had never found such peace anywhere else in the galaxy, but also, nowhere else had he seen a more beautiful woman than Omera.

Omera took the child in her arms and stepped into the water. Winta was already swimming and calling her mother to join her. Omera was mainly focusing on the baby, making sure he was fully enjoying his experience. At some point to she turned to the Mandalorian, the baby still securely in her arms.

-“He seems to enjoy it”, she told him.

Din agreed with a solemn nod. He had a feeling deep down in his chest, something quite foreign to him, a feeling that only some minutes after he was able to identify as… maybe jealousy? He wished he would be able to be part of this familiar scene. He thought at the idea of settling, finding someone to love, start a family, have kids with, see them grow in the safety of a planet like Sorgan. This was not something he frequently thought of, his line of work making it virtually impossible to even dream of such future, certainly not for somebody like him. Because, he had to be honest with himself! Who could possibly love a bounty hunter? How could he escape his life, past and present?

-“Wouldn’t you like to join us?” said Omera, briefly startling him.

The Mandalorian opened big his eyes in surprise behind his visor. Could he really? If once in his life he was going to experience anything like having a family, this was surely the moment. His heart started pounding fast and hard in his chest.

-“I…” he was totally at a loss of words. He looked nervously all around him, unsure to whether it was to find an excuse to decline the invitation or to make sure there was nobody else around. It was indeed very unlikely that they would meet anybody. And he wanted this so badly. But over 30 years of living behind an armor, following the strict code of his tribe, made unlearning all his experiences, habits and rules all the more difficult. But with all the courage he could muster, he very slowly unbuckled his belt to take it off along with his bandolier. In the corner of his eyes he could see Omera smiling at the sight of him deciding to join them, and kept entertaining the kid in the water, helping him stay afloat as he played with Winta.

It took Din several minutes to take off his boots and all of his upper armor, which he piled with uttermost order and respect by the river bank. Wearing just his pants and what looked like a black tight undershirt, he joined Omera in the water. When he reached them, he extended his arms to get the baby, who very happily joined his buirin the water.

After the initial awkwardness of the situation Din started to relax, indulging in all of the kids’ games. Din was captivated by the transparency of the water, which allowed him to clearly see some small fish swimming between his feet and feeding among the pebbles sitting at the bottom of the river. The kid, following his gaze, started getting excited, pointing at one precise pebble near Din’s foot. It was of a white color, clearly standing out from the rest. The Mandalorian had no doubt it was this particular one the child wanted.

-“Notanother one, kid!” he said as if annoyed, but chuckling.

But he couldn’t but agree to get it, knowing how much his child loved to collect pebbles. So he handed the baby to Omera, who was witnessing the whole scene with Winta, both a huge grin on their faces. Din took a deep breath and dived to get it. Upon resurfacing, he turned his back to Omera and the children, and very slightly lifted his helmet to empty his helmet and spit some water out. He repositioned his helmet and returned to the kid, settled in Omera’s arm, to give his the pebble.

-“You owe me one, buddy. You have no idea how unpleasant is to dive with the helmet on.”

Omera couldn’t help but chuckle. But the moment was interrupted by the sound of an engine which startled both Omera and Din. They quickly looked up to the sky to find what looked like a small private cargo ship flying low, as if not far from landing. Omera looked at the Mandalorian, inquisition clearly in her eyes. Din gave no evident reaction, and returned his attention to the kid, giving the impression he worried nothing about the ship that just flew past. Din felt relieved from seeing that Omera seemed reassured from his behavior, keeping her from knowing that the beautiful days he so dearly enjoyed in his private sanctuary were probably coming to an end.

Final sacrifice (chapters 1 and 2)

In a moment of… what? boredom? I started writing a fic. And later, in a moment of, what now? insanity?? (yes, that the best word I can think of…) I decided to post it. I have to admit that I write science, and that I have no clue how to write anything else. English is not even my first language. But nevertheless, here it is, my first fanfic EVER. I have stories popping up in my head all the time, and I thought that, at some point, I wanted to put them on paper. So voilà, in case anybody feels like reading some Mando x Omera (I miss these two so much!). And if you do (at your own risk of course, not sure of what), I will be very glad to have any comments, no need to go soft as long as it is constructive. I work in science, referees literally DESTROY us with each article, and it only makes us improve our quality.  A HUGE thanks goes to @queenjules907 for beta reading this, she worked wonders with my awkward phrase constructions in English LOL and gave me lots of good comments.

Cross posted on AO3 if you prefer to read it there ^^

Link to chapter 3

Final sacrifice

Synopsis:AU universe, in which removing your helmet is punished by death if the members of the covert esteem it so. Otherwise all canon compliant until E16 “The Rescue”, where Skywalker doesn’t show up but Din fights the Dark Troopers with the Darksaber. Din and Grogu, together, they find the covert, mostly as occurs in E5 of TBOBF. This fanfic takes off from where Din accepts Paz’s duel for the DarkSaber.

Relationships: Mando x Omera

Characters: Din Djarin, Grogu, Omera, Winta. Eventually Cara, Fennec, Boba Fett

Warnings: nothing major for these first two chapters

Chapter 1

Din had Paz by his neck, vibroblade dangerously close to the layers covering his throat. Grogu hid behind  the Armorer’s left leg, grabbing as if to steady himself from the overload of his emotions, having nervously witnessed the complete duel.

“It is done”, the Armorer finally said, putting an end to the fight between the two warriors as Grogu looked up at her. “Paz Vizsla, have you ever removed your helmet?”

The large Mandalorian answered without any hesitation in his voice despite his position. “No.”

-“Has it ever been removed by others?”

-“Never”

-“This is the way”, recited the Armorer, now addressing Din. “Din Djarin, have you ever removed your helmet?”

Din’s mouth felt dry, but whether it was because of the effort put into the duel or the Armorer’s question, he did not know. He knew this question was coming his way, sooner or later.

“Have you ever removed your helmet?” she asked insistently.

Din’s hands started to shiver. Paz, who was still under Din’s control, noticed the small change and slightly turned his head to look into Din’s visor, as if attempting to decipher what was going on in his vod’s head. “By creed, you must vow!”

-“I have”, answered Din finally after roughly releasing Paz from his grasp.

-“Then, you are a Mandalorian no more.” the Armorer said without hesitation.

Grogu whimpered, clutching the Armorer’s leg a bit tighter, and turned his gaze to her. This made the Armorer more aware of the kid’s presence, and she lowered her gaze to look at the child.

-“I beg for your forgiveness, how can I atone?”

The Armorer took a deep breath, although one only Grogu was able to feel. She closed her eyes behind her visor. Deep inside she knew that someone like Din Djarin would have never broken the Creed for any other reason but to protect his child, the child she herself tasked him to care and deliver to his own kind. She looked again down at the child, but the Creed was clear. Even though foundlings were an essential part of Mandalorian culture, under no circumstances they were allowed to show their face, not without facing the consequences of their act.

-“I’ve known you for many years, Din Djarin, and I can only imagine this decision was not taken lightly.” Looking down at Grogu again, meeting his eyes, she immediately understood. “I can only think you broke your oath to protect your foundling”.

-“It was the only way to find the coordinates of the Imperial Cruiser where he was being held. I had no choice, and I would do it again knowing that it meant rescuing him from the hands of those who sent me after him in the first place.”

-“The tenets of our Creed are anyhow clear, and revealing of one’s face cannot go unpunished. We will deliberate on your case and the circumstances that took you to remove your helmet and reveal your face of the enemies of Mandalore and the enemies of your foundling. But I would strongly suggest you make arrangements for his wellbeing in the case the outcome of our deliberation does not go your way.”

Din looked immediately for his child’s gaze, which he met to find watery eyes, still hiding behind the Armorer’s leg. Grogu, somehow understanding the gravity of the events he was witnessing, took a couple of steps backwards, looking back to the Armorer’s visor with the incredulity that his buir would be banished or even worse, punished, for trying to save him.

Din reacted quickly to his foundling’s movement, bending to recover the DarkSaber that was lying on the floor and climbing up the ramp that accessed the passage where the Armorer and Grogu stood. He picked up his jetpack and, without making eye contact with his tribe’s Alor, he picked up Grogu. To the naïve eye, his movement may have looked like he was bowing to the Armorer, and the irony did not go unnoticed to Din. The child gave him a small chirp, the anguish clearly reflected in his eyes. Din gave himself a couple of seconds to order his thoughts and tried to comfort Grogu as much as he could with the kindest look anybody could give through the anonymity of a Mandalorian visor.

He then addressed the Alor.

-“With your permission, I would like to travel to Sorgan to await for your decision on my fate. I know the child would be happy and well taken care of there should I not be able to continue caring for him.”

-“Then so be it, Din Djarin. I have no doubt of your honour and that we will find you there when the time comes. Farewell”.

With those words, Din looked again into Grogu’s eyes, then straightened up, nodded to the Armorer and headed for the exit of the substrata. Grogu could feel the many different feelings going through his buir, almost overwhelming him. He buried his face in the bend of his arm while holding tighter on Din’s uncovered bicep. He could feel the disturbance in the force, a change in this all-connecting force that told him that strong changes were about to happen in their small clan’s life.

Chapter 2

Getting to Sorgan through public shuttles was no easy task, and required several stops in planets that Din didn’t necessarily wish to revisit. Sorgan, not having any space ports, required the clan of two to take a private ship that accepted their passage in exchange for Din’s services against eventual pirate attacks.

The forest planet welcomed them with familiarity. For several hours they walked through the forest, Grogu holding strongly to his arm. His buir had explained where they were headed, and he understood well enough from his exchanges with the Armorer the reason why they travelled. He could feel the emotions running through Din, many of which he didn’t understand, but he could identify some disappointment (with himself?) and the impotence of fighting the circumstances that brought them back to the krill farm. But he could also feel the rage among the cacophony of feelings. He clutched his protector even tighter, and concentrated in all the good feelings and souvenirs he had from when he was last in Sorgan: happiness, the feeling of friendship while playing with other kids in the village, how their laughs made his heart warm, how the sun covered his skin in goose bumps from the warmth of its rays, the smell of the food escaping the main hall, the sight of Cara sitting sipping spotchka on Omera’s front porch. He tried to transmit all these feelings of calm and wellbeing to his buir, and for a moment, he felt the muscles of Din’s arm slightly relax.

The village showed up among the trees, and upon reaching the clearing where the first ponds started, Din stopped. His heart suddenly started racing. Was he doing the right thing by coming like this? Would it be fair to the village to come under the circumstances he found himself in? He surely knew that Grogu would not find more happiness that he would find among the krill farmers that hosted them months back. But what bothered Din was the feeling that there was also some egoistic part in all this, and he was having a hard time admitting that if the tribe considered he must die because of his actions, he wanted to spend his last days with Omera. Din had to take some deep breaths to steady his heart rate. No point in turning back now. He had taken the decision to come, informed his clan members— or what was left of his clan, thanks to him–. So once again, as he had done so many times since he left the ring world, he straightened up his shoulders, took one more deep breath, and started slowly heading towards the village that he had thought so much about since he was last there.

—

In the ponds, the farmers worked hard to harvest the krill, with the help of some droids that were in charge of moving the largest baskets. Some of the older kids were helping out with the tasks at hand while the younger ones were playing around the ponds. One of them pointed towards the forest, causing all the younger kids to get excited, murmuring among themselves while running towards the edge of the forest. Omera, who was working with other two farmer women, looked up to see the kids running. Took her a couple of seconds to understand what was happening: it was then when she saw the sun’s reflection on the Mandalorian’s armor. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be true? Was this really happening? She had dreamt of the Mandalorian’s return so many times, she was having a hard time believing that this time, it was ­­­­­­­­­­­­­actually true. With a knot in her chest and trembling legs, she got herself out of the pond and set her harvesting basket to the side. She hesitated to move forwards, unsure that her legs would actually work. She could see him standing at the edge of the clearing, the kid in his arms shaking with excitement, clearly eager to go down from his father’s arms and run to meet the kids that were quickly approaching to greet them. She saw Din comply with the baby’s wishes, and upon looking down at him, he moved to gently settle the baby on the ground. It was then that he got up and saw her in the distance.

—

Then he saw her, standing next to a pond, her eyes fixed on him. He didn’t dare move forward, thinking somehow that if he moved too fast, he would wake up to realize none of this was actually happening. He came back to reality when all the younger kids reached him and were fussing around Grogu, all talking simultaneously, greeting, asking them questions. There were too many words from too many directions, and Din had a hard time following any of the conversations, not that he was able to concentrate enough to sort anything out. His only thought was that there, standing there in the distance, was Omera. The kids started moving towards the village, and Din couldn’t help but smile, seeing Grogu laugh with a dozen of hyperexcited children. He then started to slowly walk towards the village, towards her. His eyes never left her gaze, and he saw that Omera started to walk slowly towards him. His heart beat faster when he noted that Omera’s pace was getting faster, and felt his heart warm at the thought of her looking forward to see him again. After what felt like an eternity, he stood a meter away from her, and they stood frozen in time, looking into each other’s eyes. And in a sudden movement, Omera leapt to put her arms around the Mandalorian’s neck. That surprised Din more than anything, never having expected such as reaction. He stood still for a brief moment, and upon recovering from the shock, he bent his neck to lay his head on her shoulder and gently wrapped his arms around her lower back. Time seemed to stand still while he took in her familiar smell. When they finally separated, she laid her hands on both sides of his helmet, trying to look into his eyes through the darkness of his visor. He bowed his head slightly, blushing from her intense gaze, even though nobody could have realized behind the privacy of his visor.

-“I’m very happy you made it back to us.” Omera said with the sweetest tone Din could have ever imagined. He had no words to return, but Omera’s admission gave Din the courage to look into her eyes again.

-“I wish it was under better circumstances.” He said finally. “But there is no other place I would rather be.”

Having said that, Omera took Din by his elbow and gently led him towards the houses. Din hesitated for a moment, just checking again on where the kid was and how he was doing. He was still surrounded by the village’s youngest, all together making their way towards the huts. Winta held him in her arms so that he had a privileged view of all the kids who waited patiently their turn to greet him properly. This calmed all of the nerves that Din had and he followed Omera.

-“I didn’t see your ship flying by…”

-“I… That’s because I lost my ship… I lost… it’s… it’s a long story. Took us several jumps to get here.”

Her heart shuddered by his confession, his tone of voice sounding so tired. “Please, come in.” She said as she invited him into her home. “I will prepare you some food and some spotchka and you can relax and have some time to yourself.”

-“I really appreciate it, you’re very kind, but maybe later.”

Omera gestured to her small kitchen table, inviting him to sit, and when he did, she sat opposite him. She felt that the Mandalorian was even more tense than usual. He kept rubbing his hands, set on the table. Something must have happened, and she was started to get sincerely worried.

-“Is everything OK? You said that your arrival was not in the best of circumstances. Has something happened?” Omera said, trying to be careful with her choice of words. He had already admitted that he had lost his ship. She wondered what else was troubling him. “Does it have anything to do with the kid, with the people that were hunting him when you were last here?”

-“I… I don’t know where to start… It’s been… It’s been difficult times. I wouldn’t…” Din couldn’t but stop, feeling his voice slightly breaking and not wanting to get Omera more nervous than she already was. He found himself lost at how to answer her questions. He was never good with words, but normally his ideas were clear. But the overwhelming amount of feelings were making the task of ordering his thoughts extremely difficult.

Omera sensed his trouble as it was hers, and could think of nothing but comfort him. “It’s OK, take your time. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do?” she offered.

-“I would be very grateful if we could rest here for a few days. Could we borrow the barn again to stay for a while?”