And bonus in honor of the release of Book of Boba Fett! The return of Little Fang
I’m not dead!
Part 6 of Star Wars actors AU, featuring very dramatic falls, the girls sharing a besalisk’s coat and Thrawn stopping Ezra from spoiling everything in interviews
if i ever see another star wars production led by this man, it’ll be too soon
Could have been worse, but I still agree with this meme. At least Boba was actually in the final episode. But still just flat feeling for his part of the story to me. I feel all the emotion and payoff was only for Mando in the end. I dunno. I’m glad it’s over so my anxiety can chill out.
Yet I’ll probably be cooler with it once I get some sleep. I was up at 3am with a migraine on first watch.
Tonight we ride! Basically as long as Boba doesn’t die I think I can tolerate anything in the finale. But if they brought him back just for a weirdly paced, inconsistent miniseries that still elevated all the other characters more than him in the end, and then had the audacity to fridge him on top of that…
I would basically crumble. As long as he lives, more stories can be told. He can always be treated better as a side character down the road by other writers and directors in this new Disney+ verse that they’ve created. There would still be hope.
Warnings: angst, mentions of injury, some of that good old hurt/comfort, I have an unhealthy love for those mod kids and this is how I go about basically adopting them, maybe two uses of (F/N).
A/N: I have risen! I’m back baby, and it’s all Mando’s fault! But really, updates will be fewer and further between because school, but I am desperate to get back into my writing swing!
Din took a deep breath, trying not to let his emotions show in his actions. Peli was at his side, looking into the interior of his ship, her brows raised. She knew of his plan. She was part of his plan. Peli was ready, and as terrible as it made Din feel, he was ready too.
“Gonna need someone to go hit the engines inside,” she said lightly. Din looked over at you, where you were sitting with Grogu, chatting happily to a couple pit droids. You had no idea what he was going to do. For this, he was glad.
“I’ll get it,” he said, looking over at you and raising his voice so you knew he was talking to you. “Think it’s time for a nap yet?”
You smiled, holding the barely awake Grogu up. “I think so,” you agreed.
Din watched you slip inside the ship, regret burning a hole in his chest. After the last couple days, he knew this life wasn’t safe for you. This adventure was too dangerous, and he had to go alone. Seeing you hurt, screaming and begging for your life after your shared encounter with the Jedi, Din knew he couldn’t subject you to that again. So he’d made the executive decision to leave you here, on Tatooine with Peli, while he found the Jedi. When he was done, he’d return, but until then, you needed to stay safe. He would never forgive himself if something happened to you.
Inside the ship, you kissed Grogu’s forehead, tucking his blankets around him and smiling. “Sleep well buddy,” you said. After the whole thing with Ahsoka, you had noticed Grogu became sleepier. Maybe he was finally hitting a growth spurt. Or maybe he was just napping.
Taking a breath and lifting your leg off the ground, you began the slow limp out of the ship. Din had pretty much banned you from any heavy work after last week, although you found ways to be helpful despite the heavy cast and clunky braces wrapped around the majority of your right leg.
“He’s all settled!” You called, finally stepping off the ship’s ledge and hitting the soft sand again. “Poor thing’s been taking one too many naps recently.”
Din shrugged. “Go sit,” he said. “Take the weight off your leg. I left a few parts over there that need to be reprogrammed.”
You rolled your eyes, sitting down anyway and letting Peli’s little BD droid crawl up your arm. It settled happily on your shoulder, a metallic purring emanating from its engine. You giggled, watching Din disappear into the ship’s belly out of the corner of your eye. You picked up a piece Din had left you, slipping a pair of goggles on and letting the diagnosis run so you knew the problem. BD chittered, nudging against your head, and you looked up.
Suddenly, the ship powered up. You whipped your head around to look at it, confused. “Peli?”
“It’s for the best.” Was all Peli said, almost sadly, and it all hit you like a ton of bricks. You stood, much too fast, feeling a stab go through your leg, but you didn’t care. You limped towards the ship, confusion and concern and anger all boiling inside you.
“Din!” You shouted, going to hit the hatch button. “Hey!” Strong arms wrapped around your waist, and you struggled against Peli, trying to twist out of her arms as she pulled you away. “Din!”
No response. You were crying now, fighting with all you had, screaming at the rapidly disappearing Razor Crest. Finally, when it was gone, faded from the bright blue sky, you turned to Peli, limp in her arms. “Why’d he go?” You whimpered. “Was it me?”
“No honey,” Peli promised. “It was him. I promise.” She wrapped you in a warm hug, her sand and machine smell enveloping you. “It was him.”
-Five Months Later-
“Drash!” You called through the shop, not even looking up from the hoverbike you were elbow-deep in. “Drash!”
Drash’s greasy face popped up. “What?”
“What in the actual kriff did you do to this thing?” You asked, pulling out a busted part and tossing it unceremoniously over your shoulder. “Looks like you got into a pod race with a rancor.”
“I got into a speeder race with the majordomo,” Drash said nonchalantly, going back to fixing her arm. “Wasn’t that bad. We won.”
You sat up. “I’m sorry,” you said, eyebrows raised. “You raced the majordomo?” You could’ve killed the poor girl. “Do you have any idea how reckless that was? You could’ve been killed!”
“We had help,” Drash promised. “The new daimyo, Boba Fett, helped us out.”
You sighed. “Right. I forgot you had a new employer.” You didn’t mean any of the venom behind your words, and you could tell Drash knew. She stood, sitting beside you and tipping her head. You went right back to fixing her speeder, pretending you weren’t growing pins and needles under her calculating gaze.
“You care too much,” she said finally. “About us.”
“You’re a bunch of kids, of course I care.”
Drash smiled. “You should come with us,” she said. “Fett was complaining he didn’t have a mechanic for his ship.”
“Tell him to call Peli.”
“He wants you.”
That made you sit up in shock. “Why?”
Drash shrugged, the confident smirk still on her face. “Don’t know,” she said, and you could tell she was lying.
So of course, the next day, once you were done with her speeder, you and Drash headed out to the palace together. Frankate and Axeoct were waiting for you when you arrived, but Everron was nowhere to be found.
“Fett asked him to keep an eye on the syndicates,” Fran said when you asked. “Apparently the Pykes are back.”
You winced. “Ouch,” you grumbled. “That’s a strike and a half. Do we know why?”
Drash parked her speeder, dismounting cleanly and offering you her hand. Even after months of healing, your right leg still had some troubles. Drash had offered to take you to get it replaced, but you’d never accepted the offer.
You stepped off the bike, wobbling and forcing your knee still as you fought for balance. Finally, you stood straight, nodding to your four weird semi-adopted teenage mod children. “Good to see most of you in one piece,” you said. “How’s work?”
“Boring,” Axe said, adjusting his jacket. “But the pay is nice.”
“And we get food and shelter out of the deal,” Fran added. “Not too bad, I would say.”
“That’s good,” a new voice said. “Would be a right shame if you hated it here.”
You turned, finally seeing the man himself. Boba Fett, in all his glory. He held his helmet under his arm, but the rest of his armor was on and uniform, each piece perfectly polished and placed. He was the picture of power.
“Good to finally meet you,” you said, bowing sharply. “Thanks for watching over these kids.”
“Thank you for offering them to me,” Fett said. “They’re good kids. Loyal. You’ve raised them well.”
You shook your head. “They aren’t mine,” you said quickly. “We met under rather unfortunate circumstances.”
Fett smiled. “Either way, thank you for caring for them while they’re outside. They’re rather reckless.”
Drash laughed, and you grinned, tossing an arm around her shoulders. “They’re good kids,” you promised. “But yes. Reckless. Very very reckless.”
After some conversation, you and Fett sat down to draft a contract for your employment. You agreed to work with him for a while, until he decided you weren’t needed anymore. He never gave you a set amount of time, only said he would use your services until you decided to quit or he decided to let you go. The pay was nice, and you both agreed on living conditions.
“You got a job?” Drash asked you as you exited the throne room.”
“I did,” you said, smiling. “Fett offered me a room and decent pay. I’ll be here for as long as I want.”
Drash’s grin grew. “Good!” She said happily. “Now I won’t have to travel all the way into town to see you!”
Days passed, and you slowly got used to life in the palace. There were meetings, of course, and your kids were in attendance as bodyguards. Meanwhile, you were more often than not sunk into the interior workings of Fett’s Firespray, fixing and tuning.
It wasn’t until a week after your employment that shit hit the fan.
“We need muscle,” Fennec said loosely. She was lounging atop the ship, one leg swinging lazily. “If this is turning into a gang war, we’ll need soldiers.”
You snorted, tossing a bolt out. “BD and I aren’t exactly the model of warriors,” you said, and BD chittered nervously. “Yeah, I know buddy. I’m fixing it.” You smacked the misbehaving control panel with your wrench. “See. Fixed it.”
“I heard a Mandalorian touched down in Mos Eisley,” Fennec said, still looking at the ceiling. “I’m gonna go talk to him. Wanna come?”
You froze. “A Mandalorian?”
“Silver armor, like Fett’s. Huge spear. Y’know, a warrior.”
Sitting up, you felt your blood run ice cold. “Din.”
Fennec’s face finally made an appearance. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “Din. You know him?”
“Oh I fucking know him,” you growled, slipping your wrench back into your tool belt. “Let’s go pay this Mandalorian a visit.”
You left that day, arriving at Peli’s garage as the suns hit their peak. A ship landed, and you took a breath. Not the Crest. Not Din’s ship.
Fennec leapt the wall, opening a hatch for you and helping you crawl through. You heard voices, one of which sent a rather nasty stab of nostalgia right through your heart.
“So, how was it?” You hadn’t heard from Peli in a while, and as comforting as her voice was, it wasn’t able to soothe the pain of the next speaker.
“Wizard.” You almost laughed. Din Djarin, ever the dork.
They continued to chat, and Fennec set up on a perch, gesturing for you to stay on the ground. You almost rolled your eyes at her. As if you could follow her up there.
Finally, Fennec dropped down, smiling as Din turned to look at her.
“I have a job for you,” she offered. “The pay is good.”
Din tossed the bag of credits back to her. “Keep it,” he said. “Call it a favor. There’s just someone I have to find first.”
“Is it me?”
Din turned sharply, seeing you standing there, arms crossed and lip wobbling as you held back your tears. “(F/N),” he said, but you cut her off.
“Don’t fucking-“ you started, a few tears spilling over. “Don’t you ever dare. Don’t. You left me here! You just abandoned me!” You were yelling now, shoving Din back after your last sentence. “Did I ever mean anything to you?”
Din put his hands on your shoulders, holding you still and keeping you from pushing him again. “I meant to keep you here for a week,” he said. “I just. After Ahsoka, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if you got hurt again. I asked Peli to keep you safe here while I gave Grogu to the Jedi. But I got, well.”
“His ship was blown to bits,” Fennec offered, and you both turned to glare at her. “Jeez. Sorry.”
“I got sidetracked,” Din finished. “The Crest exploded. I didn’t have a way back here. I was stranded, but I never, never, not once,” he ran a finger over your cheek, wiping away tears. “Forgot about you. I meant to come back. We were going to go to Sorgan. I asked Omera and everything. But it all got messed up. So messed up. I’m sorry, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop being sorry.”
You collapsed, sobbing heavily, holding Din as tight as possible. “You’re still an asshole,” you decided. “Could’ve just told me. I would’ve stayed.”
“I know,” Din promised, smoothing a hand over your hair. “I know. And I’m not going anywhere now. Not without you.”
“Did Grogu find his people,” you asked. “Is he safe?”
“Safe as he can be,” Din said. “Now c’mon, I believe Fett has a job for us both.”
The ride back to the palace was quiet. You held Din’s hand, silently squeezing every so often. He squeezed back, reassuring you he was still there.
“(F/N)!”
You looked up as the speeders stopped. Drash was racing across the sand, and you dismounted the bike as fast as possible so she could bury herself in your coat, wrapping you in a rib-crushing hug. “Where’d you go?!” She asked, nearly hysterical. “Fett said you left, but he wouldn’t say anything, and he didn’t know how long you’d be gone or even where you’d went!”
You smiled, rubbing Drash’s back. “I’m right here,” you said, rocking her back and forth. “I just went to go find an old friend. This is Mando.”
Drash peered out of your coat at Din. “I’m Drash,” she said.
Din chuckled. “Seems you found yourself a kid,” he said. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to stay with you, if that’s what she wants.”
“There’s barely room on that ancient N-1 for you, much less for the three of us,” you said, still holding Drash. As grown-up as she liked to act, you were pleased she was still a child at heart. “Plus, we can’t take Drash and not her siblings. That would be rude.”
Din put an arm around you, pressing his forehead to the top of your head. “I always knew you’d be a good parent.”
You shrugged. “Flattery will get you nowhere. I’m still pissed.”
Fennec interrupted your family bonding time. “Can we wrap this up?” She asked. “Fett’s got an agenda.”
Giving Fennec a very rude gesture, you kissed the top of Drash’s head, finally untangling her from you. “Go on,” you said. “Go tell Axe and Fran we have some more company. And is Everron home yet?”
“Came back an hour ago,” Drash said, wiping her eyes. “I’m sure they’ll all be happy to see you. We were worried.” She walked away, Fennec close behind her.
“Still mad, huh,” Din said finally.
“You left me on this barren heap for literal months,” you said. “Yes, I’m still mad.”
Din looked up at the palace before him. “Think Fett’s gonna give me a bed after I pissed off his favorite mechanic?“
You laughed. “I’m sure he’ll make you sleep in the rancor pit,” you said. “C’mon. I’ll show you around.”
That night, after dinner and negotiations, which you tuned out, you settled in bed, listening to the palace settle around you. It was quiet, but the good kind of quiet. The kind that settled your bones and made you feel warm inside.
A knock echoed from your door.
“Come in,” you grumbled, expecting Drash. She slept in your room sometimes, after nightmares.
It wasn’t her. It was Din, standing in your doorway awkwardly until you sat up, rubbing your eyes and gesturing him in.
“Can’t sleep?” You asked, adjusting your shirt and yawning.
“Not really,” Din admitted. “I ran into the Armorer while I was out.”
You nodded, patting the bed. Din sat. “She asked me if I’ve ever removed my helmet,” he said softly, the T of his visor firmly facing the floor. “I said yes.”
“But-“ you were shocked. “You haven’t.”
“I did,” Din said. “When the Jedi took Grogu. I didn’t want him to think. I just wanted-“ he struggled to find the words. “I needed him to know who I was,” he said finally. “Under the armor. And I think it’s time you know too.” He moved his hands to the lip of his helmet, but you stopped him.
“Din,” you said softly, holding his hands and pulling them towards you. “I already know you. I know you’re a kind man, and very smart. You love too deeply and too easily. You trust everyone and no one. You’re a man of family and creed, of promises and expectations. I don’t need to see your face to know who you are. I just need this.” You put a hand over Din’s heart, feeling the pulse wild and sporadic beneath your fingers.
Din sighed, falling against you and pulling you down towards your blankets. “I love you,” he said quietly. “I should’ve never left you here.”
“That’s over and done with now,” you said. “Now, you’re back. And you’re never leaving without me again.”
“You and your weird kids.”
You chuckled, wrapping Din in a hug. “Sure. Me and my kids.”
Silence fell over you again, unbroken until Din shifted, taking his helmet off. Out of respect, you shut your eyes, not wanting to break what had just been healed. A gentle kiss hit your forehead, and you smiled.
