PADAWAN

Din Djarin is not himself and the man is terrified.

A/N: I love the story of Din Djarin and Grogu. I don't need anything else. Also I am writing this because of the force/my inspiration Pedro Pascal and not for monetary gain. I have spoken.

Additional Characters: Ahsoka Tano

Note: This event happened after Season 2 Episode 16. The chapters might sometimes be long or short depending on the story plot.

Please don't be shy to review and tell me what you think. Thank you!

CHAPTER 8

HOW TO TRAIN A MAND'ALOR

Part 2

Din leaned back against a sturdy tree trunk gasping for breath. The air circulating fan in his helmet works overtime so he wouldn't asphyxiate but now and again he could get a whiff of the smoke tainted air of Calodan.

This is training day 1.

They began the day after he checked the ship and was satisfied that the DX-9 had not been tampered by anyone during the night. Then he and Ahsoka went down to the valley not far where he and Grogu found her.

"The terrain here," she said. "is perfect for different kinds of scenario on attacks and counter attacks."

"Yeah," he had barely nodded his approval when he heard the swish of one of the Togruta's double weapons. "Whoa!" he turned sharply and his hand instinctively went to his blaster.

"Din Djarin," Ahsoka points one of the longer sabers to the Mandalorian as she walks around him. "I am not your friend…I am not your ally. I am not your master. I am your enemy. Wield your weapon or you die."

Din cursed under his breath as he blocked Ahsoka with his vambrace. She began to bear down on him while his left hand seemed to be made of jelly. He couldn't free the darksaber! The clamp must have been caught on something.

He tried yanking the handle with his free hand then stopped when he realized it might ignite the weapon and if that happened he'll be in a big heap of shit.

Din gritted his teeth in concentration and tried to push back but Ahsoka is surprisingly strong and he could already feel some heat coming from the Togruta's saber on his arm. If he doesn't break this impasse he's also going to get burned.

Dank Farrick! Three complications in one scenario! What to do? Think quick!

Through the glow of the saber he realized the Jedi was smirking at him as she ignited her other saber….

-o-o-

Amused, Ahsoka looked down at the Mandalorian after giving him some breathing space.

Din Djarin prided himself in being fit and he kept a rigorous exercise regimen suitable for his profession but after a mere thirty minutes of the most exacting sword fight he had ever had he found that he needed to revamp everything including his lungs.

While he waits for his breath to return to normal he started the analysis of the sword fight. While his opponent, barely winded and sweating, leapt up and sat on an 'L' in the tree. There's no light training because she kept launching attack after attack. She was never where he expected her to be and most of all she was fast.

Even though he was proficient in the use of any bladed weaponry Ahsoka was another matter; she was swinging that laser sword like mad…

"Lightsaber!" Yelled the voice from the tree above him.

"Okay!" Din nodded at the correction. He stopped getting surprised at the sudden words she would blurt out of the blue. Then he realized she was reading his mind. "Lightsaber..."

Dank Ferrik! This just barely the first hour of the first day of lightsaber academy! He smirked when he heard the Togruta chuckling up the tree. "Get out of my head!" he groused.

"Padawan, how will you improve your psychic abilities if you always use words?"

'Try to speak in your thoughts.' Her voice whispered in his head.

"How…?" he said aloud then sighed in annoyance. 'Okay I will.' He looked up. "Did you hear me?"

"Did you say something?" she frowned.

Din sighed, he just shook his head. I give up.

"I heard that."

"What did I say?"

"Here." Ahsoka leapt down and offered him some kind of nuts that is as big as half his pinkie. "You were hungry. It's going to give you some energy."

"Thank you." He turned away to lift the helmet enough to slip the food in his mouth. The nuts were not bad. He saved the rest after having about three…

He froze. Eyes moved around the glade.

There's complete stillness…. a feeling of waiting… Ahsoka?

He scanned around him. Not the eyes…his senses. Against all his instincts as a warrior he trained his aura around him.

He felt the attack before he saw the flash which swept at him from the right.

-o-o-

"You must relax when you use the force to sense your surroundings. If you don't you will get tired easily." Ahsoka said behind her back to Din so he could remove his helmet and drink some water.

"Yeah, I'll try to remember that." His head was just soaking from sweat. Good thing his cloak doubles as his towel if there is a need for it. As he was toweling his hair he caught the lingering smell of blue cookies and Grogu's barf on the fabric. He closed his eyes and sighed. I miss that stubborn little green bean.

Ahsoka was curious, "Do you remember other things that happened when you touched the barrier on Tython?"

"Pain." Din stretched his neck and winced. "I tried to enter it three times to get the kid and I was thrown out."

"Could that encounter have triggered the force in you?"

"Why do you say that?" Din was shocked.

"All creatures have midi-chlorian; you, me, Grogu, the trees, the plants…all living things. It makes it possible for everything to exist."

"And it depends on how high or low they have that midi-chlorian for the force to appear or manifest." After a good long drink of water, a refreshing wipe of his face and neck Din returned the cleaned helmet on his head.

Ahsoka stared at Din when the man sat opposite her. "That is right." She smirked. "You're a good padawan."

"If I improve my force skills," Din still feels strange using that word, "then after Grogu is finished I can also protect him as well."

Ahsoka smiled. "We call them abilities Din. Right now we don't know how strong your abilities are. Not all force wielders are the same." Ahsoka felt Din's determination slide down a little. "My words were not meant to discourage you. Being a warrior you very well know that not every fighter has the same skills. The same is true with force wielders."

"Have you ever met a very powerful Jedi?" Ahsoka went still at his question and he was jolted when he felt a strong emotion from the Jedi. "You have. I didn't mean…"

Ahsoka slowly released the breath she was holding. "No." The woman took another deep breath and her voice lost the huskiness. "Remember I said that I couldn't train Grogu?"

"Was he close to you?"

Ahsoka had to smile. "I think we discovered another force ability of yours; mind-reading."

Din was glad he got her to smile again. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he clasped his hands. ""Ahsoka, I want to know what you found out during our mind meld."

"Din, I want to explain something." The Jedi looked him but she was not really looking at him; she is reading him again. "The Force has two embodiments; the dark side and the light side."

"The dark means it is bad, it is evil." Din nodded. "And the light side is all that is good."

"Yes." The Togruta looked up at the sky with a smile. The Mandalorian never cease to catch her off guard on some odd thing. "If a force sensitive person allows themselves to be lost in their emotion then the dark side would overcome that person. They would become full of hate and anger. All they would want is to destroy."

"Did you lose someone from the dark side?"

For the first time Ahsoka chuckled, "If you were another person I would be alarmed at how fast you are advancing academically. In the temple they would move you up very quickly in the ranks."

"Did you?" he pressed on. The Togruta looked towards the black mountains to avoid his gaze. In the moment that she stayed quiet Din became fascinated at the subtle emotions that flitted on her face. He envied her and her courage to show the depth of her emotion openly.

"Yes." Ahsoka turned pained eyes at him.

"You wanted to know if at a small push I would succumb to the dark side, is that it?" The look on her face and the anguish she tries to hide answered for him. He nodded toward the general area of the DX-9, "That was the very same area where I parked Razor Crest, my ship…."

-o-o-

Din Djarin vividly remembers that day because it was a day of victory and of mixed emotions.

Yes, he found the Jedi and his covert would be proud that he helped the Jedi free an oppressed people from the cruelty of Morgan Elsbeth.

Imagine that, a Jedi and a Mandalorian working in tandem! That would fuel a non-stop retelling of the story from the foundlings in his covert as the clan elders gather the little ones around them just like when he was a young boy. The elders would chuckle as young voices beg for 'that story' again.

Din stopped at the edge of the clearing where he parked the Razor Crest. The kid was sleeping in his hammock, spent from his late night conversation with Ahsoka and from demonstrating his power the next day.

As he was standing there a few meters away from the ship the man felt scared all of a sudden and the feeling was unsettling for him. The bounty hunter almost raised a hand to his suddenly heavy chest but he caught it and instead closed it into a fist. Even his helmet suddenly felt so confining and he couldn't help but lift it up his chin to let fresh air in. But no, that was a mistake. The helmet went back down and the purifiers went to work to purge the tainted air.

Surprisingly the act of lifting the helmet even for a moment in the open air felt kind of good. He shook his head to clear it from these thoughts. What am I thinking?

We could stay here since no one in the galaxy would try to look for us in this nondescript planet. But then that was what he also thought on Sorgan until their two weeks of peace and quiet was disturbed and they had to reluctantly move. Sooner or later someone will get lucky and find them here as well.

He wanted to postpone the trip. He had been having second thoughts while he was getting Grogu ready. He had a strong feeling that the trip to Tython would mean his days with Grogu were numbered.

And he hated himself for being right.

-o-o-

"I am sorry, Din." The Togruta whispered after hearing the story. It had changed her impression about this strong and stoic man. People have a saying about still waters run deep.

"Fear is a powerful thing. It can sometimes make us think and do things outside of logic." He shook his head. "I am still coming into terms about losing my ship, my son and becoming the leader of my people."

"You do not want it."

"I know what needs to be done but I will accept the role on my own terms. Not with people demanding what I need to do or not do."

"Your people needs someone who knows his own will and perhaps you are the one who can do that."

"But the problem is I do not have a lot people I trust."

"Not even Bo Katan?"

"I think she is driven by something."

"Yes, I know" Ahsoka nodded with a smirk. "she wants to be the leader of Mandalore again." Ahsoka looked around. "There's still enough light for one more practice before supper."

Din sighed but picked up the darksaber...and raised the weapon just in time to block Ahsoka's attack.

-o-o-0-o-o-