Chapter Text
The air of the desert was dry. That was the first thing Din thought. This was a dry and unforgiving planet. The light of the twin suns wasn’t gentle, it didn’t try to nurture life on the planet, instead it tried to suffocate everything with all consuming heat.
This planet will do.
Din’s heart was beating uncontrollably, this was his opportunity. Even if this time he was accompanied by the Armorer today was his first real mission. If he succeeded in this unforgiving planet nobody back home would oppose the idea of him becoming a full time bounty hunter. This was his chance to show the covert that he was ready, the opportunity to thank them for all the things they had done for him and to take care of the other foundlings.
“You look excited young one” The Armorer said.
“I am, I’ll show the elders what I’m capable of” The Armorer chuckled and looked at him through her helmet, tilting it a little in a gesture he knew meant fodness. Din sighted but he could feel how his cheeks were slowly turning red and was thankful for his brand new beskar helmet. The Armorer really should stop treating him as a youngling, he was of age now, he had finally turned fourteen last month.
“Keep yourself close to me at all times and remember your training. The mission is simple, we protect the carriage-speeder while it goes from Mos Esba to Mos Eisley. We will be close to them in our own bike speeders and will survey the area for possible attacks. If we see an enemy…”
“We pull the trigger first.” She looked at him and nodded, pleased.
“This is the way” She said.
“This is the way” Din answered.
-----------
The mission started normal. The guy who hired them was an asshole, which Din knew was the usual. In a galaxy ruled by the empire only assholes prospered enough to pay well. He remembered his training and kept his mouth shut even when the man they were supposed to “protect” made some really disturbing comments about buying slave girls with the money he would get out of this transaction. That should have been his first alarm. The amount of money the client thought he was gonna win. In the desert there were few things you could do to get good money fast and all of them were illegal.
Something about the mission smelled really bad but when Din looked at the Armorer she was relaxed and completely focused. That is the kind of Mandalorian he wanted to become, little words, no nonsense attitude and as deadly as a knife. So he swallowed down his nerves and mounted his bike speeder.
“Ready?” Asked the Armorer, tilting her head to the right, concern palpable in her voice. Din didn’t need her concern, he was ready. He nodded and mounted the bike speeder.
“I’ll survey the front and you can check everything goes well at the back.” Din announced. She chuckled and got to her own bike murmuring something about being young and full of energy. Din just sighted and started his bike, getting on the front side of the A-A5 speeder truck, it was a nice vehicle for transporting goods. The pilot was already on the vehicle, the douche who was going to pay them at his side. Everything seemed in order. He started the engine and went ahead, scanning for enemies at the front. Nothing seemed to be there, no tracks, no heat signs, just the vast desert ahead. He let himself relax for a brief second and enjoy the ride. The heat of the desert was awful and he was covered in armor making him sweat buckets, so the air of moving on a speeder-bike was appreciated.
Suddenly Din noticed a weird reading on his helmet.
“Armorer there is something weird here.” Din said “I detect more than twenty heat signs but they seem to be under the sand.”
“Get ready for battle” She said, her voice serious and urgent.
So Din did, not waiting to be surprised he fired one of his grenades to the sand and made a sign to change the course of the A-A5. It proved to be the right move because it caught their enemies by surprise which gave them enough time to get some distance between them and the enemy.
Then they appeared, tusken raiders popped from under the earth on all fronts. They had covered themselves with sand completely, waiting for their victim. Din smiled under the helmet, finally a way to show off in battle. He quickly counted the total number of enemies, twenty four. He took no time in firing his blaster. Target practice had always been one of his specialties and it showed. His blast hit one of the sand people right in the chest, killing it in a second but there were a ton more to come so Din got battle ready and started firing one enemy after another.
The tusken warriors were tougher opponents than he had expected, they relied on their high numbers, their knowledge of the surface and well thought tactics than made up for their lack of good quality weapons. They shot in sequences and Din had to focus so much in avoiding the hits that he had no time to return fire. He had to move from one place to another while maintaining eye contact with the raiders and the A-A5 speeder at the same time, it was a lot more difficult than in his training.
“What exactly are we protecting? They seem way too invested in this.” Din asked, drifting on his speeder-bike so he could have a vantage point to shoot the attackers.
“Water, ” She said. Din sighed, of course it had to be water. The most precious thing on a desert planet like Tatooine, the only thing that could make a man instantly rich. It also happened to be sacred for the sand people who were currently attacking them.
“Dank Farrik“
The Armorer chuckled again and murmured something about a Mandalorian having to always be ready for the unexpected. Din couldn’t care less, he just wanted this job to be over.
The raiders were approaching the speeder and they were going to take over if they kept just avoiding fire. “This is not working” He said through the com, “You are right, it is time to switch tactics.”
He looked at the Armorer and saw her get into firing position with her long distance rifle and he understood she was going to cover him from behind and was going to let him get into close quarters with them.
“I will cover for you, young one. Show me the results of your training, I have given you the tools you need to succeed. ” She said with what seemed like humour in her voice. Din had to smile, the Armorer always seemed so wise and caring but she was a Mandalorian at heart. She was enjoying this battle at high speed as much as Din.
He took a deep breath and accelerated his bike, headed into enemy lines. He speeded up and drifted moving it from right to left trusting his armor to keep him safe. He reached the Tusken warriors and left the small bombs the Armorer had gifted him for his first mission. They weren’t expecting such a direct attack and it showed. In two swipes with his speeder bike Din was able to get six bombs in place, they would blow in less than ten seconds which gave him just the time to escape. He turned around and went back to the carriage at high speed.
9,8,7
His speeder flew through the dunes, blaster fire at his back. Din pressed the accelerator harder, trying to win even a little bit of extra speed.
6,5,4,
He felt a blast hit his back. It hurt, burned like hell, but he paid no attention to it. He trusted his armour. even if it wasn’t one hundred percent beskar, his armour would keep him safe. Din kept flying straight ahead, desperate to put enough distance between him and the explosion.
3
2
1
A blast hit his bike-speeder and he had no time to react. Din lost control of his bike and crashed to the floor. The bombs went off, creating explosions of fire and sand through the usual calm of the desert and then, complete darkness.
-----------
“Hey, hey. Are you alright?” Din heard a sweet voice, too sweet to belong to an adult and opened his eyes. The bright light of the twin suns drew the small silhouette of a child, against the blue sky he shone like a small angel. “Wake up! we have to go before those guys come back!” The voice said, exasperated.
Abruptly, Din noticed how something took his arms and started pulling him, dragging him through the sand. His mind finally woke up and reacted the only way he knew. He attacked the unknown enemy, immobilizing him against the sand.
“Wait, wait wait” the person under him screamed and that took Din out of his trance. Now that he could focus he noticed his attacker was nothing more than a tiny boy, a child who most probably was just trying to help him. He left him free immediately, ashamed of his reaction.
“I’m sorry, little one. You took me by surprise.”
“Don’t call me little!” The child complained “The name is Luke,” he added in a softer voice and looked away from Din, his eyes fixed in the sand, like he was suddenly shy. Din stared at the kid in front of him. Luke was a tiny boy with round cheeks, sun kissed skin, and ashy blond hair. His overall shape was hidden under a white poncho that covered his torso but Din could tell he was skinny, he wore a shoulder bag that was way too big for him but seemed to carry a lot of basic necessities for a long trip. Din stored that information for later, for now he needed to know what his situation was, and the only way to get the information was the kid.
“Nice to meet you Luke, I’m Mando,” he said, offering his hand to the little boy. Luke looked up and smiled, pleased by the little courtesy. “Can you tell me what happened?” Din asked in the softest tone he could muster.
“I don’t know! I was walking to Moss Esba from my house, and then I saw a big explosion” the kid opened his arms and gesticulated to describe how big the explosion was, which was extremely adorable “so I decided to investigate and I found the Sand People, they were flying away in that direction,” the kid pointed up East, which was good because that meant they had stopped going after the speeder and the Armorer who were travelling North. “I also saw corpses... and you. It seemed you needed help so I tried to move you but you weigh a lot... Are you ok, did the bad Sand People hurt you?” He asked, taking a bacta spray for children out of his bag. Din couldn’t help but smile under his helmet. Even in a place as rough as Tatooine, there were soft people like this kid who just cared about people. It was a nice change from the assholes Din was used to dealing with.
“I’m fine, Luke,” he answered, trying to use a voice that sounded both confident and soothing at the same time. “I’m strong, the Tusken warriors just hit my armor.” He patted Luke’s head carefully. Gently caressing his hair in a way that Din hoped was comforting. It seemed to work, Luke didn’t say anything else and he quietly put his bacta spay back in his shoulder bag. “But you were right before, this place is dangerous. We should move and find a safe place.”
Luke nodded and offered his hand for Din to stand up. He grabbed it carefully and didn’t let go of it afterwards. Luke’s hand was small and soft against his beshkar but his grip was strong. His little fingers held Din’s gloved hand with no hesitation, it seemed Luke had decided that he trusted Din to take care of the situation.
The Mandalorian contemplated his options for a moment and scanned ahead. The explosion had left its marks on the sand and Din could see the corpses Luke talked about at sixty meters ahead. He also saw his speeder, half buried in the sand, completely ruined. It was not a pleasant place to hang around. Even if Luke didn’t seem too bothered by the corpses, the kid didn’t even flinch at the burned skin of the sand people. Chances were this weren’t the first corpses the child had to see. Which was sad, convenient for their situation, and not as surprising as it should have been. Tatooine was a harsh planet in an unforgiving galaxy. Kids like Luke or Din in the past had to grow up with violence surrounding them. Din held Luke’s hand a little more firmly and started walking.
Strong, caring and brave. He would make a fantastic Mandalorian.
Looking at the position of the twin suns, Din realized that the explosion had knocked him off for an hour at most. It was not ideal but it wasn’t as bad as he had feared at first. There weren’t any signs of the A-A5 or the Armorer. Din didn’t believe for a second that she would have let him to die, Mandalorians didn’t abandon their own, so the most probable scenario was that she had had to leave because of a possible attack following the last one.
Din hit the communication button in his arm but it appeared to have been affected by the explosion. Shit. He checked his arsenal next, he still had three bombs untouched, his blaster and the whistling birds the Armorer had gifted him with before the mission. He was fine, he told himself, he was going to look for a safe spot and repair the communicator device, contact the Armorer and establish a new meeting point. He was fine.
He had to be fine.
If not for him, for the little one. Luke was in danger by the simple fact of being in the same place of what minutes before was a shooting site. He needed to bring them both to safety.
This is the way
“Kid, do you know a safe place near here?”
“My house… is close.” Luke said but something was off. His voice had lost all the spark that had before and he seemed defeated somehow. He looked up, searching Din’s eyes through his visor and then he looked down again. Luke bit his lip, it seemed to be a nervous tic he wasn’t aware of. His whole demeanor had shifted at the mention of his house. Which was worrisome, he had heard the stories about mistreated kids in the outer rim.
“You don't seem to want to go there, why is that? ” He asked, while moving his thumb to caress the little boy’s hand in comforting circular motions. The kid didn’t answer immediately, his little head lost in thought but he didn’t oppose the contact either. Luke was perfectly at ease with Din, and their hand contact seemed to ground him.
“The truth is I was running away from home. I was… leaving, leaving this planet.” Luke said and stopped walking, he looked up, fear in his eyes. Like he was expecting a good scolding. Din got on his knees, keeping eye level with Luke and asked.
“So you were escaping home… Why is that? Did they treat you badly?”
“No! Uncle and auntie are really kind… and they take care of me even though I’m not her real child but… but they don’t understand me. They never let me go on adventures and they always order me to help with the farm. I want to go to space and see the stars! I hate it here.” Din sighed, the oppression that was burning in his chest relaxed and he chuckled under his helmet. His little rescuer seemed to be a source of problems for his adopted family. Nothing to worry about, he thought. Just an excited kid in the middle of the shittiest place he had seen. He didn’t blame him for wanting to get out but at that moment they had bigger problems, like the Sand People who might return at any moment. So he held Luke’s hand and looked at his pure blue eyes.
“Isn’t rescuing an iron armored Mandalorian an adventure?” Luke opened his eyes in surprise and smiled bright as the sun. Then he looked at the sand, bit his lip in that tic Din had noticed before and a shy smile appeared in his tiny face. He nodded, held his hand with renewed energy and started guiding him to his house. On their way there Luke asked an infinity of questions about being a Mandalorian, about his spaceship, about all the planets he had visited before.
“So for Mandalorians fourteen is being an adult?”
“In a way, you can start to work for the covert at fourteen, but you can only swear the creed when you are eighteen.” Luke nodded and his eyebrows frowned a little, like he was in deep thought.
“So I will be able to leave the farm at fourteen then.” Din couldn’t help but to chuckle, of course that was the conclusion Luke arrived at.
“You are not a Mandalorian though, and that is still way too early for you. What are you? Seven?”
“I’m nine!” That was surprising. Going by his height and weight, Luke appeared to be no older than six. Then again, maybe his diet didn’t allow him to grow as much as Din’s Mandalorian brothers. Life in the desert was hard, more for a kid in a growing age. Maybe that was the reason Luke acted so outraged about being called little, maybe it was a sore spot for him.
Din sighed and switched the conversation around, but suddenly Luke stopped right on his tracks.
“Something is coming.” Luke said while pointing North. Din reacted by instinct and turned the heat vision on. Luke was right, there were five heat signs behind a rock.
“Luke stay here, I’ll take care of it.” Luke didn’t answer but Din didn’t wait for him to do it, he had to take the enemy by surprise; it wasn’t only his life on the line in that moment. Din approached the rock with stealth and waited for the right moment. He could see through their heat signs that the creatures weren’t human and that they were too big to be womb rats. So chances were they were a pack of Massiffs. Strong animals, they weren’t a problem by themselves: Massiffs could be domesticated and were overall nice animals for defence. But a pack of wild Massiffs was dangerous. They were smart and preferred to attack bipedal creatures to other predators for food. They knew that bipeds would carry extra food in their pockets and backpacks. For their security it was better if he eliminated the animals.
Din took out the blaster and shot, one went down, the other animals took notice of his presence and attacked. Running straight after him at a much faster speed than Din was expecting. He avoided the attack by a narrow margin and aimed to shoot again. The blast hit another Massiff on the leg, it made it slower but didn’t take it down. The animal closer to Din made a jump and bit him on his unarmored arm. It hurt, the Mastif mouth was big and its jaws strong. They pierced his unprotected skin and ripped his muscle, the pain shocked him and he had to control himself to not scream.
“Dank Farrik” The pain was making his hand go numb which was a problem because he still had to get rid of four animals. His arm had been compromised but he could still fight, he activated his flamethrower burning the little shit that was biting his arm to a crisp.
He immediately activated the whistling birds to attack the other one at his right. That took care of three of them, things were starting to get in his favor. Except that just when he thought so, the other two Massiffs jumped on him, knocking him down into the sand floor. They immediately tried to bite his neck, going for the kill. Din was terrified, he tried to move his arms, tried to activate the flame thrower but nothing was reacting.
This is it. This is where I die.
One second passed.
Then two, then three… The pain didn’t come.
Din opened his eyes and what he saw took his breath away. The beasts were on top of him but it seemed they were unable to attack him. In fact they had stopped doing anything, they seemed to get stuck on time, unable to move up or down. Din got up and the Massiff didn’t oppose him, they weren’t pinning him anymore, it almost seemed like they were floating. He found himself speechless. He knew he should use this chance, this miracle, to destroy the other two enemies but his mind was blank, and then he saw him. Luke with his hand raised and blood coming out of his nose, and he understood.
The little one had caused the miracle. The little one had saved him. He understood this incredible fact and immediately knew what he had to do. He had to protect him and repay his debt. Din took his vibroblade from his pocket and sliced the two beasts’ throat. It was over.
They were safe.
He looked at Luke, the kid was smiling at him, those clear blue eyes piercing his soul one more time. Din ran to him, worried about his bloody nose, and took Luke in his arms. Luke just stared at him, little by little coming into terms about what had just happened. His eyes, so bright and cheery just a moment ago, were flooded with an emotion Din knew too well. Fear.
“Hey little one, it’s ok I got you.” Luke glanced up at him and embraced Din with his slim arms. “What is making you so upset? We are both well.”
“Uncle said that nobody under any circumstance should see me using my powers. He said that would put everyone in danger and that I should never use them.” Din sighed, that was a valid concern. In a galaxy ruled by the Empire everything that was beautiful and different was in danger. That was the reason his covert had to hide under the floor to survive and also the reason Luke’s powers had to remain secret.
“Hey Luke, look at me” The kid did, somehow finding his eyes even through the visor, like he naturally knew where they were. “I will never reveal your secret. I will protect it and take it with me to the death. I, Din Djarin, swear these words on my name. And you know what, kid? A Mandalorian never breaks his vows.” The kids eyes shined, emotion running through them. He nodded and kept hugging Din, while they advanced through the desert.
-----------
Luke’s family house was a little farm located at the outskirts of the Jundland Wastes. A moisture farm in the middle of nowhere, it was a good way to make a life in the desert, a simple lifestyle. There weren’t many other houses near it and it seemed a peaceful place. It wasn’t peaceful at that moment. The lights were up and even from outside Din could hear the screams from the residents inside.
“He hasn’t returned yet, Owen! He left a note saying he was leaving for good! He has taken food and medical supplies with him! What if he doesn’t come back? What if something happened to him?”
“My love, calm down! It’s not the first time he pulls off this stunt. He is going to come back, you know that. He always comes back! The kid loves you too much to leave you.”
“We should have left to look for him in the morning when I saw the note! But no, you were so sure he wasn’t serious.”
“We left in the afternoon… I just didn't think...”
“We left too late! I wanted to go immediately but you said we should wait. Now it’s midnight and he is alone! I’m getting on the skyhopper and I’ll look for him. I’ll see you tomorrow, Owen.”
“Beru, no. You stay here. I'll get the skyhopper and will get the kid home. This is my fault.”
Din listened to the conversation and found relief in their screams, in the anxiety you could feel in their voices. Those were the screams of worried parents, of a family. Even if Luke didn’t feel like he belonged here, these people loved him enough to be ready to look for him in the middle of the nightly desert. He looked at Luke who was sleeping tenderly on his arms, the little menace didn’t know the hell he had caused for his clan.
What a trouble maker.
Din knocked at the door. Suddenly the voices stopped and a heavy silence came into the farm. The door opened and Din was able to see two human persons, a man and a woman. They seemed to be older than they probably were, their worry for Luke was visible in the way their clothes were badly put together and the grime on their boots from looking for the kid in the middle of nowhere. They looked surprised, scared for a moment and then heavily relieved when they noticed the bulk in his arms was their nephew safe and asleep in his arms.
“Bless the Force!” The woman said, approaching with a smile on her face. “Thank you! Thank you!” Din could see tears growing in the corners of the woman's eyes. The man at her side also approached, more reserved than his wife but he could tell how happy he was in the wrinkles of his kind smile.
“Please come inside, you must be tired,” he said while carefully caressing Luke’s cheek. He put his hand under Luke’s head and looked at Din, a silent request to pass him the kid that Din couldn’t refuse. Din let go of the kid just enough so his uncle could grab him until the man had the kid well secured. Then he let go, immediately missing the warm weight that Luke had provided him for the majority of the trip.
“Please come inside, the night is really cold in the desert.”
“Thank you for the invitation.”
The older couple brought him to a well stocked kitchen, with white walls and more electronics than Din expected from a farm. Beru and Owen disappeared for a moment just to return after a minute without Luke.
“We put the boy in his bed. He needs sleep.” Din nodded.
Beru smiled and warmed up the water while Owen put three cups of tea on the table.
“Please have some tea, I’m sure you are also tired.” She said but Din made no movement to take the cup. He was dying for some of that tea, he needed some water after spending all day in the desert but he couldn’t drink at the moment.
“I can’t take my helmet off in front of people.”
The couple looked at him, they seemed surprised, but they recovered fast.
“We can give you a room alone, you can drink the tea and have some food there if you would prefer.”
“That would be appreciated.” He answered, a little smile appearing on his face. A warm meal and a room for himself that was more kindness than he expected. Then again, he just returned their lost nephew to them.
“Can I ask what happened?” Beru said “Where did you find him?”
“I was on a mission, we got attacked by Tusken Raiders and I got separated from my Baji’buir in an explosion, I was knocked out when your nephew found me. I tried to communicate with my Baji’buir but my communicator was damaged by the explosion so I asked the kid if he knew of a safe place. He said that his house was safe but he didn’t want to come back, that he was running away from home.”
“This kid, I swear… he is just like his father.” Owen sighed, his voice was strong but somehow in that moment it just sounded sad and tired. “We try to give him a good life here, but he only wants to go outside on adventures all the time. One of these days he's gonna get himself killed.”
“He said that you two were really kind but didn’t understand him,” Din smiled under his helmet looking at the older couple. “He is a little menace.”
That got a chuckle out of Beru that was quickly followed by Owen.
“Indeed he is! When I’m least expecting it he steals my blaster to go shoot some womb rats.” Beru said, she seemed exasperated but there was no bite on her words. “We love him so much, we just want him to be safe.”
“Maybe sometimes I’m too strict. It's just… we just want him to stay with us.” Owen sipped his tea and sighed, “Sorry to trouble you with our domestic problems, Mandalorian. What do you want as paintment?”
“I don’t require payment. Protecting the children is part of my creed, but if you were kind enough to lend me a room, food and tinker tools to fix my com device, I would be really grateful.
The couple looked at each other and smiled.
“That can be arranged.”
The room the old couple lended him was small but clean. It had a bed with white sheets, a wardrobe, a table and a mirror. It also had a bathroom attached to it which Din was very grateful for. That way he would be able to clean his body of all the sweat he got from walking through the desert for hours, without having to worry about breaking his creed.
Beru had given him a plate with food and reheated his cup of tea so he could have it warm. Din was at a loss about what to do with so much kindness. His covert had always stuck together in a closer way than any family could. They were Mandalorians, they were bonded by something more powerful than blood: they were united by a creed, a religion, a way of life that was glorious and pure, like their beskar.
But here in this little house, tasting the mint flavour in Beru’s green tea and eating a warm meal in a soft bed surrounded by even softer people, Din wondered. Could this have been his life if those awful droids hadn’t killed his blood related family? Din sighed, these days he couldn’t even remember his parents' faces. Sometimes he even forgot his own. He stood up and looked at the mirror. A young boy stared back at him, tired brown eyes, soft dark curls and a little bit of hair growing at his chin. He smiled and pushed his fears away. He was a Mandalorian, a warrior and finally, despite everything he was still just himself.
Din Djarin.
He had given his name today, to a kid he had just met. He was supposed to be a shadow, his helmet was a proof of it. A faceless warrior, an enigma, that way the covert could remain a mystery. Their secrecy was their biggest shield, their anonymity was their strength. Yet he didn’t regret telling Luke his name. He felt a connection to the young boy, their lives were now intertwined. A Mandalorian never breaks a promise, and he had promised the kid he was going to protect his secret with his life. Those words held meaning, Luke’s fate and his were now and forever interlocked, and for some reason that put a smile on his face.
He took off his armor, covered his wounds with clean bandages, and went to the shower. The sonic vibrations felt like a blessing against his skin, the grime and sweat evaporated leaving Din’s muscles relaxed. He left the shower soft and feeling like a person again, but also terribly tired. He dragged himself to the door, made sure it was well closed from the inside and then he fell to the bed, the softness of the clean sheets immediately dragging him to a complete sleep.
--------------------
The next morning Din was awakened by the sound of tiny knuckles on his door. He raised from his bed, instantly alert, like the Armorer had teached him.
“Dindin! Dindin! I’m bringing you food!” He instantly recognized Luke’s sweet voice, greeting him from the other side of the door. Din grabbed his helmet and put it on, not opening the door until he was sure his face was properly covered. When he finally opened the door he was received by an excited Luke. He was almost visibly vibrating with energy, and when he saw Din he smiled bright and warm like the sun. Din couldn’t help but smile behind his helmet.
“Good morning Luke.” He took the food plate Luke was carrying and walked to the room’s table. “Come inside,” he said, putting the plate on the table. “How was your night?”
Luke looked down to the floor and bit his lip, a gesture Din had seen him do the day before, a nervous tic Luke did every time he was feeling shy.
“I slept well…” He said while still looking at the floor, moving his feet from left to right in a nervous way. He looked up and catched Din’s eyes with his own eyes again. “I’m sorry I fell asleep before we got home. I was supposed to rescue you.” His voice was a lot softer and at the end he made a cute pout with his mouth. “I’m sorry you had to save me.”
Din approached Luke, he kneeled to be at his eye level and put his hand on top of Luke’s puff of blond hair, caressing it gently. “Luke, you did rescue me. I would have died out in the desert if it weren’t for you.” Luke looked up to Din with an incredulous look in his eyes, like he didn’t believe he was getting recognition.
“So what I did was good?”
“For my survival? Yes,” Din answered softly and a big smile appeared in Luke’s cute face. He kept petting Luke’s hair, dreading his next words. “For your uncle and auntie… Let’s say when I arrived here they were about to jump into a crazy search in the middle of the night. They love you Luke, you can’t do this to them.” The smile suddenly disappeared and a guilty, sad look took its place.
“Uncle Owen was very angry at me this morning” Luke looked down, trying to hide his face from Din’s attentive eyes. “He said I acted like an irresponsible brat and that I could have died alone in the desert.”
“That is true.”
“But I don’t think I was bad! Uncle just doesn’t understand!”
“Hmm, Luke. Would you really do it? Would you really go away to the stars and let your aunt and uncle worry about you forever?” Luke kept looking at the floor, still hiding his face from Din but the little quivers of his body were impossible to hide. The boy was crying. Din cursed himself, that was the last thing he wanted to do. Unable to think of anything else, he resorted to picking Luke up and holding him in his arms. ”Hey, hey there. Luke, look at me.” Luke raised his head just a little bit, just enough for Din to see his small face covered in tears.
“I-I thought you would get it!” He said between hiccups “I love uncle! I love auntie! They just don’t get it!” Din sighed, holding Luke as gently as he could as the boy cried on his shoulder. Luke didn’t reject his touch, in fact his little hands were grabbing at him harder than before keeping Din close. But he was making it very evident that he was disappointed with Din.
“What is it, Luke?” Din asked, exasperation growing inside him. “I cannot get it if you don’t tell me!”
“The stars! They are calling to me... They are hurting, they need help and I have to go” Luke stated, and his eyes held no doubt about it. He stared at Din, like that was enough, like that was the only answer that mattered.
If Din had been an adult he probably would have dismissed Luke’s answer. He would have told Luke to stop daydreaming and to stop being a nuisance for his uncle. But Din was not an adult yet, he was a young boy that knew the struggles Luke was facing. They were the same problems he was facing, he trained and trained to become a bounty hunter to serve the creed but also to explore, to see the universe and be free.
But at the same time…
Smoke, androids, fear, explosions, death.
“I do get it.” Din said in an agrier tone that he would have liked. Strangely that made Luke’s tears stop. “I understand how bad it is to be trapped in a small place, to want to get out and abandon yourself to the freedom of the stars. Luke, I have trained since I was younger than you for the chance to do that, to become a bounty hunter that goes from place to place with only my weapons as my comrades.” Luke’s eyes shone with amazement, and his hands, still holding Din strongly, relaxed.
“Then why can't I? I’m strong! I know how to shoot. I could come with you!” Din smiled and not for the first time thought that Luke would do an amazing Mandalorian.
“Because you have a family, and they still need you here.” Luke pouted again, seemingly outraged by that answer and Din had a sudden sense of deep respect for both Owen and Beru.
“Then until when? Uncle never gives me an answer he just says… Until you are old enough” While he said that Luke moved his finger and changed his tone of voice in what was a surprisingly decent imitation of his uncle. Din was at loss, this kid was impossible, or maybe he was just weak against him, because he couldn’t stay mad at him anymore.
“Let’s make a deal. If you still want to go to space by the time you are eighteen, then I will come for you and bring you with me to see the stars.”
“You promise? For all the water in the land?”
“I do, I promise it for all the water in the land.”
Luke smiled, satisfied and nodded. Their deal was sealed. Din nodded back at him and smiled under his helmet. That was the second promise he made to Luke and maybe by the time he was eighteen the boy would have forgotten about it, but not Din. Promises were sacred for Mandalorians. He should get off this planet before he made any more promises to his small new friend.
“Luke, I need to eat alone.” Luke stopped staring at him, and looked down to the floor, biting his lip one more time “It’s part of my religion. I can’t take my helmet off in front of anybody.”
“Oh! Then I’ll wait outside! We can talk through the door.”
“Actually, I need your help, I need to repair my communicator, and for that I need some parts and tools. Can you find me your uncle’s tools? ” Luke stared at him for a moment and then a mischievous smile appeared on his lips.
“I need to see the com to know what you need.” He extended his hands, silently asking for the com. Din took it out from his bracelet and offered it to the kid. Luke took it carefully, stared at it for some seconds, nodded to himself like he knew exactly what to do and then he left the room without saying anything else. Din followed him with his eyes until he left the room and then closed the door again and took his helmet off, ready to start eating his meal. It was a nice vegetable broth with some kind of paste in it, mild in flavour but good and after eating it Din felt a lot more energized.
He put his helmet back on and left the room. He walked through the house until he found Luke in a big room. The kid was seated on the floor surrounded by tools and in the middle of it was Din’s com-link, which was completely repaired, operational and working. That much was obvious due to the fact that Luke was talking to the Armorer through it.
“And then he shot one of the beasts and the other two attacked! But he was ready! He used his flamethrower with the other one and it was so cool!” The armorer tilted her helmet in the way Din knew meant she was amused.
“Protecting children is The Way. I’m glad my apprentice has followed the code and brought you to safety.”
Din approached them and sat next to Luke “You repaired it. You have my thanks,” he said to him and then looked at the Armorer to inform her of the situation. She listened attentively to what happened after their separation and nodded at the end.
“Your course of action was the right one to take. Bringing the kid to safety takes precedence to any mission. Send me the coordinates, young one. I will come for you in three hours, standard time.”
“This is the way”
“This is the way”
After that the com-link went off, Din looked to his side. Luke was visibly shaken, “Does this mean… You are leaving? It’s too early… I thought we could hang out for a bit.”
“I’ve already stayed too long. I was supposed to return to our covert yesterday night.” He said while getting up from the floor but as soon as he stood up he was captured by two small arms that didn’t want to let him go.
“But… It’s so unfair, it's the first time I have a friend at home.” A warm sensation invaded Din’s chest and he couldn’t help the words that came out from his mouth afterwards.
“I’ll be back soon, I promise.” Luke rested his head against the cold metal covering Din’s chest. He nodded sadly but didn’t let go. Din sighed and picked him up, holding him by the waist until Luke was on his eye level. “No more tears, Luke,” he ordered and started spinning with the kid in his arms.
Luke was taken by surprise so he had to hold on tighter on Din’s shoulders but in no time he was laughing non stop. He kept asking for Din to spin faster and faster, which Din was happy to do. Time stopped flowing in the little bubble they had built together, spinning and laughing. A moment of pure unwinded joy.
The moment felt too short, it seemed like just a minute had passed when they heard the roar of a spaceship motor. They went outside where the Armorer was waiting for them. When she saw him she nodded her head in recognition and he mirrored the gesture. He left Luke on the floor with the intention of approaching her alone but the kid didn’t let go of his hand and Din wasn’t in the mood to make him feel sadder, so he allowed him to stay a little bit more.
“I see you’ve made a new friend, not bad for a first mission. The majority don’t end on such a pleasant note.” Din felt his cheeks burn. He knew that tone, the Armorer was messing with him, treating him like a kid once more. Luke just grabbed Din’s hand tighter and bit his lip.
“I’m fortunate he found me. I owe a debt to him.” He said softly looking at Luke. “Protecting him became my mission.”
“Indeed, that is the way of the mandalorian” She looked down at Luke, “You are a brave warrior, thank you for helping my student.”
Luke looked to the Armorer and a shy smile appeared on his face. Then he looked down and with a very small voice asked “Can he come by again?”
The Armorer chuckled.
“He owes a debt to you little one, he will come back. That is the Way.” Luke seemed to relax at that but he still didn’t let go. He looked up to Din, the blue in his eyes captivating him once more, a silent plea for him to return. Din nodded and Luke smiled. That was everything they needed.
“How was your mission?” Din asked, returning his attention to the Armorer.
“We successfully protected the carriage to Mos Eiley. Then the smuggler offered to pay me more if I protected him while he was delivering the cargo directly to his client. I accepted and when their guard was down I captured both the smuggler and his client. I have them in carbonite waiting on the ship.” There was pride in her words, and Din knew she had a feral smile under her helmet.
“They bought our act.”
“It was easy to convince them after you protected the cargo so well against the Tusk Raiders. A shame we had to fight them, we nomad tribes understand each other but there was no choice. Good job, you passed your test.” Din smiled, he had his doubts after falling and getting lost but it seemed his first mission was a success after all.
“Let me say goodbye to this family before we go.” The Armorer nodded and got on the ship, leaving him space. Din picked Luke up and walked back to the entrance of the house where Beru and Owen were already waiting for him.
“You know kid,” Owen said looking at him “If at some point all this Mando code is too much for you, we always need more hands here. It's not much, but it’s honest work.” The offer was sincere, Din could see it in his eyes and that weird warm sensation he felt the night before returned.
“After what you’ve done for us, there will always be a place for you in our house,” Beru added and Din had to stop looking at them. They reminded him of another life, a life that was not his anymore. “Next time you come, I’ll bake you blue-milk custard pie. It’s my specialty. The best dessert in all the galaxy!”
“I’ll judge that myself… when I return to Tatooine”
Luke kept quiet during the exchange but when Din said that he couldn’t stop himself from hugging him tightly. His small hands kept him trapped firmly. “I’ll wait for you,” he murmured in a soft broken tone and afterwards he let go and, with determination in his pure blue eyes, he returned to Beru and Owen.
Din turned around and started walking back to the ship. He forced himself to not look back, fearing that the temptation of a softer life would destroy what he had worked so hard for. He opened the door and walked inside the ship. The Armorer was there, her eyes fixed on him.
“Won’t you regret it? They were offering you a family, a safe place, a happy life.”
“They were warm… But I am a Mandalorian. A peaceful life was never meant for me.” The Armorer nodded and approached him, she put her hand on his shoulder, slowly but firmly.
“This is The Way”