Chapter 41

-news-

The next month saw another fifty-seven Mandalorians added to their number on Batuu. Twice more, he had gone to meet Bo-Katan when she ran across larger groups, more than three hundred combined, hesitant to join them. With there clans swarn to him now, there were more than five hundred Mandalorians ready to fight to take back their home and a few hundred more children and non combatant adults.

He still wasn't sure they had enough people to retake Sundari, but he knew he needed to do something soon. According to Bo-Katan, the remnant presence was far smaller on Concord Dawn but he wasn't sure they'd be able to hold it if they could call in reinforcements on any kind of cruiser. The caverns and ruins were beginning to get cramped with so many newcomers and they were running out of resources. They couldn't stay there much longer.

Omera had suggested going to Chandrila finally but she was due any day. He wanted her to be somewhere safe when she gave birth and he had no way of knowing what waited for them on Chandrila. He had brought the long range comm from the Cin Vhetin to their apartment weeks ago so they didn't have to walk the mile to the cave where he'd eventually moved his ship every time they needed it. With Cara's help, he told Omera to try to contact her old friend.

It hadn't taken long to hear back.

Two nights later, they lay together in bed. It was late and he had spent the last half hour making love to his very pregnant wife. She had been so exhausted lately but no matter how long her days were she still wanted him desperately almost every night. He was not complaining.

"My only worry is that I'll go into labor there. It's a high tech core world. I don't want a nurse droid trying to deliver my baby. I want Tanda and Hannah with me."

Sitting up so he could see her face, he frowned. He didn't want a droid for this either. It felt wrong. "They have droids for that? No. No droids. I don't like droids. Maybe we should go home until after the baby comes. It won't be long. Chandrila can wait."

She smiled at him and reached for his face, pulling him down for a kiss. "It will likely be another two weeks at least. And who knows how long it will take us to get anywhere with the new senate. Our people can't wait that long, Din. But I love you for wanting to put us first."

Caressing her swollen middle, he kissed her back. "You are first. Ner aliit sol'yc, ratiin. Family comes before everything else. Even for the Mand'alor."

Her hands were warm against his cheek and in his hair as she stared at him with so much affection Din was positive he could read her mind.

"I love you too, ner ka'ra. If you need Tanda and Hannah, we can make a stop on the way to Chandrila. Everyone will understand."

That idea was met with a short, affectionate laugh. "Oh Din, you are the most wonderful man. But there are already going to be too many people on your ship. The Cin Vhetin is larger than the Crest but there will be seven of us already."

Pursing his lips, he thought about it. "Well, we could always leave Paz. He counts for at least two and it wouldn't be too long of a flight from Sorgan to Chandrila. Maybe two days."

"We can't leave Paz. But… maybe if it was just Tanda? She's small."

Seeing that she'd finally agreed, he smiled and had just switched the light off when the comm beeped. Groaning, he reached back for the light and got out of bed.

Omera rolled to her side and leaned up on an elbow to watch. When he flipped the play switch, a woman he didn't recognize appeared. "Oh, that's Leia!"

"Omera! I was so happy to get your message. It's been years! I am intrigued by your proposition. We have been unable to decide what to do about the Imperial remnants scattered in the outer rim regions. They pose a very real threat, not just to Mandalore. Some of us are more concerned about this problem than others," she sighed with obvious irritation "but it sounds like perhaps we could work together to deal with this. I look forward to seeing you again and meeting your family. I will be on Chandrila for at least the next three weeks while the senate is in session. Depending on when you come, my brother will be here too. You remember Commander Skywalker?" Din looked back at Omera in confusion but she looked too shocked to say anything as Leia chuckled to herself and finished. "We have a lot of catching up to do. I look forward to seeing you, my friend."

When the transmission ended, Omera sat up and looked like she couldn't decide how to react. For Din's part, all he could think about was Skywalker.

"Didn't you tell me that Commander Skywalker was the Jedi Luke Skywalker? Omera, is that who she means? Am I going to get to see Grogu?"

This was so unexpected that he couldn't even think about the other information in the transmission. It had been almost a year since he'd seen Grogu and he missed him terribly. Suddenly getting to Chandrila was even more important than it had been before.

Omera was smiling and reaching for him so he crossed the room to stand beside the bed. They wrapped their arms around each other and she looked almost as happy as he felt.

"Possibly! This is wonderful! Here, help me get up so I can put something on. I'll send her another message directly to her this time and ask her when he'll be there."

Din pulled her to her feet and fell back against the bed where she'd just been and watched her move around the room, still stunned and thinking about Grogu. Had he missed him? Would he be happy to see him? The words of the other Jedi, Ashoka, came back to him as Omera finished tying her robe closed and suddenly he wasn't sure it was a good idea after all.

What if seeing him again, renewing that attachment, only hindered his training? Would it make it harder to say goodbye a second time? As much as Din wanted to see his son again, he didn't want to hurt him at all or hamper his training.

The conflict must have been plain on his face. Suddenly Omera was standing in front of him, her hands on either side of his face, concern clouding her own.

"Din, what's wrong?"

He let out a shuddering breath. "Do you remember what I told you about the first Jedi we met? What she told me about Grogu?" She nodded. "What if seeing him again isn't a good idea? What if he's not ready for that yet?"

Smiling at him sympathetically, Omera kissed him once. "You and Grogu already shared this bond before you sent him with Skywalker. I somehow doubt very much that seeing you again will make any difference. Do you not want me to ask her when they'll be there?"

He only had to think about it for a second. She was right, as she usually was. "No, go ahead and ask her. If he thinks it isn't a good idea at least this way he will know we're going to be there."

Nodding, she kissed him again and turned away to do as he'd asked.

"Thank you for any help you'll be able to give us, Leia. We plan to leave within the next twenty-four hours and after a short stop we will be heading to Chandrila. I look forward to seeing you in a few days. I was wondering if you could tell me when your brother will be there. You see, I don't know how long it has been since you've seen him but he has a young child traveling with him. That child, Grogu, is our adopted son. If he thinks it would be wise, we would like to be there at the same time so that we could see him. It has been almost a year since we've parted and we miss him terribly. We will see you very soon."

They hadn't ever expressly said so, but it was implied by virtue of their being married that Grogu was Omera's son too. Her claiming him too made him love her even more and when she came to bed again he told her so. After several more deep and lingering kisses, they finally went to sleep.

The next morning, Din dressed and went to find Skord. He was pleased they had heard from Chandrila already.

"Excellent. I was expecting a longer delay, dealing with politicians as we are. I may not have any experience with this New Republic government, but politicians are always politicians, no matter the regime. Do you know what position this Leia holds?"

Din shook his head. "No, she didn't say but she seemed optimistic that we would be able to help each other."

Skord nodded, frowning at his desk. "Be careful there, Mand'alor. Those people have little care for the outer rim and for our people beyond what we can do for them. Our history will unfortunately not work in your favor. There may be individuals who would see our reemergence as a threat to the peace they are trying to establish. It is good you are taking Vizsla and my niece. I almost want to suggest you take more warriors with you but I wouldn't want to risk antagonizing them already. Do not lower your guard, Djarin. Your wife may be friends with this former princess, but the Galactic senate will always be a den of self important villains."

Frowning, Din crossed his arms. "I thought you were in favor of this move, Skord? You make it sound like a mistake."

The older man looked up again and smirked. "Oh I think it is our best option. Not everyone there will be against us. Your wife may have limited experience with politics and the workings of government but this will be new for you. I simply wanted to warn you not to trust any of them. But I trust you to do this for our people. You may not have experience dealing with matters of state yet, that will come in time, but you are intuitive and have the character to be the kind of leader Mandalore needs."

Humbled by his words, Din could only nod and thank him. Skord smiled and asked him to send him a transmission when they arrived. Din promised to keep him updated and left to speak to the rest of his clan.

He gave them all a few hours to be ready and went back to help Omera pack their things. Somehow they had managed to triple their belongings in the two and a half months they had been on Batuu. Not that they had brought much with them from Sorgan. Omera and Winta had both gotten new clothes in town and he'd picked up a few new blasters and other odds and ends to replace the things that had been destroyed with the Crest. The other members of their group had all fared similarly, gathered last minute as they had been.

Thinking about how they would fit everything in the cargo hold and still have room for all seven of them, and then Tanda, Din was so distracted he nearly ran into Omera as he walked into their room.

"Oh, kriff.. sorry Omera." He reached out to stabilize her, frowning apologetically.

She only smiled at him and pulled him into their room. Their things were piled neatly all over the room, waiting to be loaded into crates and put on the ship. He felt a bit bad that he hadn't been there to help her, he had been gone longer than he'd intended.

"I've heard back from Leia."

He looked back from the piles of clothes to see her smiling brightly at him. "Really? What did she say?"

"Skywalker will be arriving likely around the same time as we will. He is going to be there for a whole week! She said he's visited twice before since Grogu has been with him and that he seems to be doing so well but that Luke has mentioned that he misses you."

He was going to see his son.

Suddenly overcome by emotion, Din blinked against the burning in his eyes as Omera stepped closer to him. Reaching out for her, he huffed a watery laugh. "We're going to get to see him... I'm going to see my son again, Omera."

Laughing softly and cupping his face, she pulled him down for a kiss. "I told you that you'd see him again, Din. I knew it."

No matter what came of their first foray into galactic politics, their trip would bring their family back together. He almost couldn't believe it.

"You did, Omera, you did."

Mando'a

Ner aliit sol'yc, ratiin - My family first, always

A/N Hooray! Din's gonna see his boy! I hope everyone's as excited as Din is!