Cara's eyes were open wide, her breath laboured. She was doing everything in her power to not make a sound, lest let the target of her focus detect her silent presence. She took in every detail of the scene, every tiniest movement and sound, burning them into her memory.

One of the most fearsome warriors in the Galaxy, the broody and silent bounty hunter, the supposed Mand'alor... was dancing in her kitchen, making some portion bread.

It wasn't even a good dance. Watching the goofy shimmy of his hips, as he hummed an off-tune, badly renditioned cantina song, Cara nearly choked on her laughter. Sure, the fluidity of his movement was reminiscent of the way he fought, flowing and sure, but the behavior was so out of place for her friend, that the Marshal simply couldn't reconcile it with the reality of their lives.

Somehow, she never imagined Din to have much of a personality. Of course, he was brave, compassionate and a loyal friend but in all the time she'd known the man, he remained a bit… bland. When they traveled together, he was always all business. Not even the cutest baby in the universe made him chuckle in her presence. Heck, the way he cared for Grogu looked like a set of more or less practiced chores he gave not much thought to.

Only at a second glance, could one notice the tenderness he practices towards his ward and maybe that should have given her a clue at what hid under the surface. But Cara wasn't one to overthink or pay much attention to small details, which she only recently found to be a fault, especially when it came to the Mandalorian. Because it was all about the small details with him. About every small tilt of his helmet and the length of his silences. It took her way too long to realize that if she wanted to get to know him, she had to focus on those. She became quite adept, pretty quick after that realization.

Still, she was feeling completely thrown by the careless way he bumped a cabinet shut with his knee, the relaxed slant to his back, the downright ridiculous footwork as he kriffing juggled portioned dough onto a plate. This was the most relaxed she'd seen him… ever. Not to mention that after Skywalker took Grogu away, Din was literally the epitome of angst.

And boy, was the humming atrocious.

The plate prepared, Din moved to the table, obviously intending on eating. His happy little wriggles came to a screeching halt as he noticed her standing in the doorway. He nearly stumbled, trying to regain his sure-footed posture and Cara could easily picture the widening of his eyes behind the helmet's visor.

There was a long silence.

"Someone's in a good mood," Cara decided to go for casual, sparing him all the delicious jibes.

Finally, after a painfully long moment of Din being Din and not reacting outwardly to her smirk, his modulator sent a small grunt of perhaps-an-acknowledgment as he set the plate on the table. Cara took a seat, letting him know he'll have to endure her for a moment and he moved back to the counter and started fiddling with making some caf.

"I got a message from Skywalker," he said, not turning back to her.

Ooooh.

"Good news, I take it?"

"See for yourself," he said, turning and handing her a holoprojector from one of his suit compartments. The way his modulated voice sounded, Cara could easily imagine his broad smile.

With an unexpected thrill of excitement, Cara took the device and set it on the table. Soon, a bluish image of the famed Jedi flickered to life, his face set in a mild smile.

"Welcome, Mandalorian," the man said. "Recently it was brought to my attention that in light of the Mandalorian tradition, it would be prudent to let a Mand'alor know of his child's wellbeing. Grogu is doing well. He is very talented and makes good progress. I believe he is content with his decision. But I imagine that it would be best if you could confirm this for yourself, yes?"

Here the image moved, as Skywalker tilted out of the holo's range, only to return with the child secured on his arm, facing forward. Grogu looked healthy and happy, his ears perked up. He was smiling broadly and waved his tiny hand, only to make a face of intense focus. And then…

"Su'cuy, buir!"

The voice was childlike and high-pitched and absolutely breathtaking, even for her. She could hear Din move and heard a modulated sigh that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Meanwhile, hologram Luke spoke up.

"He's been practicing that," he said with a conspicuous smile. Then, his face returned to its previous serene state. "I hope that this news leaves you comforted with the knowledge that all is well. If you wish to send a message back, please do so through the man that passed this transmission along. Stay safe, Mandalorian. And may the Force be with you."

The message cut off with the image of Grogu waving his arms in a goodbye. Cara sat there, still mesmerised.

"Dank Farrik," the Marshal muttered, looking at her friend. "What did he say?"

The Mandalorian was fiddling with the caf container.

"It's Mando'a," he said and she could swear that the small static she heard there was his voice cracking. "It means 'hello, father'"

Somehow, even though it was not surprising to her, there was wonder in his voice and Cara melted a bit. She could feel her own face morph into an endeared smile.

"I didn't…" he continued, "I never taught him that. I have no idea how…or why…"

"Din, you're such a moron," Cara laughed in return. She rarely used his given name and his helmet snapped up. "Even I know a few words in Mando'a, it's not as difficult to research as you think. I imagine the Jedi have way more access to those things."

"But wasn't there something about Jedi shunning attachment or other such shit?"

He sat down and after a moment of hesitation took off his helmet, immediately stuffing a piece of bread in his mouth, avoiding looking at her. Even after a few months, it was still a bit jarring for the both of them, the intimacy of this trust. Sure, he could say that she'd seen him already, that she's family all he wanted, Cara knew that the years of upkeeping an impossible standard still lingered behind his every action. Each time he visited, it warmed her heart that he felt safe enough here, in her home, to try himself like that. And it took all she had to not draw attention to it, to let him work through it at his own pace.

"How the kriff should I know, you're the one that did all the research. Maybe Skywalker has other ideas than the old Jedi Order, he seems like a reasonable enough guy."

Din didn't answer and she didn't expect him to.

"Soooo… you gonna send something back?"

There was a myriad of emotions racing through his face and Cara almost chuckled. The Mandalorian couldn't keep a poker face to save his life. She supposed that this wasn't a needed skill, when no one's seen your face for the last few decades but it always cracked her up, how hopeless he was with anything that didn't make a pew-pew sound.

"What would I even say?"

"Mando, my guy. Your kid just called you daddy for the first time. You tell him that papa's proud of him, that you're happy for him and to be a good boy. That you love him. You know, the normal parent stuff."

By the look on his face, he obviously didn't know and it struck her that Mandalorians were probably not the touchy-feely kind of parents. She wondered briefly if his adoptive guardians ever told him any of those things.

"I'm really bad at this," he sighed, dejectedly throwing the last piece of bread back on the plate. "I don't want to mess this up more than I already did."

"Oh, please. The kid worships the ground you walk on. I'm pretty sure he'd be delighted if you so much as farted at him. Just… give him something he can listen to on a lonely night. And say hi for me."

With that she stood up, clapped him on the shoulder and left the room, knowing he will need to mull this over.

It was late in the evening, when he made his way into her main living space. The spare room he's been occupying whenever he visited was tightly shut for hours now and even though he had his helmet on, his whole posture screamed of nervousness. As she looked up from her datapad, he shoved a holodisk at her.

"Tell me if this'll do," he grumbled, sitting down. She could feel him assessing her every move, even though his visor was downcast, the chin of his helmet drawn close to his chest, his posture closed off.

The hologram lit up and Cara was happy to notice that he recorded it with the helmet off, obviously making some effort to look presentable.

"Skywalker, thank you for the message, it was as good to hear from you as it was unexpected. It's good to know that you have ways of finding me if there is need. Know that I will answer any call for assistance. Now, pass the holo to Grogu."

Always the charmer, Cara thought, watching the rising nervousness in the holo-Din's face.

"Hey, kid," he continued. "I got your message. You did good, buddy. Even though we'll need to work on your pronounciacion. It's boo-EER, there's some oo in there. Unless you were calling for a drink. Which I hope you didn't. But, you know, it was… it was good. Really good. I'm so proud of you, ad'ika. SO proud."

The image flickered, as Din fidgeted, the cute little smile that was slowly blossoming on his lips shifting into an obviously failed attempt at a stern frown.

"Now you behave for your teacher, you hear? None of that willful nerfshit. Study hard. And chew your kriffing frogs or whatnot. Don't let me hear of another choking incident. Just… stay safe for me, ok? And happy. I hope you're happy, ad." there was a moment of silence. "Oh, and Cara says hi."

With that, the recording cut off abruptly, leaving Cara with a warm vice around her heart. She guessed from the start that her friend wouldn't find the confidence to admit he loved Grogu out loud but it wasn't really needed with all the feeling that shone from his eyes.

There was a groan next to her and the sound of a helmet hitting the backrest of a chair.

"This is pathetic," Din grouched.

"Oh, no, no. It's absolutely perfect. Don't you dare scrap it."

The visor turned to her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I wouldn't change a thing."

"Hn. Okay. I guess I'll go find Solo and hand it to him. He's supposed to be leaving tomorrow."

That got her attention.

"Wait, Solo? Han Solo?"

Din only nodded his head as he rose to his feet, plucking the holoprojector off the table.

"Oh man. Just wait like five minutes. I am so going with you. I am NOT missing out on meeting Han kriffing Solo."