AN: My Tusken signs aren't based on any form of actual ASL. They are entirely made up for this fic.

Standing next to Korrmigan he looked over his new 'co-workers.' All of them were wearing full beskar'gam, which was a relief to see, and they each moved like competent warriors. Two of them shared the same symbol on their left pauldrons, some kind of stylized bird, and he assumed they were part of the same clan.

When the others were introduced by his new boss they removed their helmets to greet him. Din held back a reflexive flinch and kept his body as relaxed as possible, nodding to each as they stated their names.

The two with matching pauldrons were apparently a married couple, Lila, she/her, and Phal, he/him, of Clan Ronan. Both had the darker skin and curly black hair that was more common of those born on Concord Dawn.

The other two were Suik of Clan Nurn, they/them, who had straight brown hair pulled back into a bun with blue eyes, and Tura of Clan Huil, he/him, who had short cropped platinum blonde hair and hazel eyes.

Din had never heard of any of these clans before. The purges had wiped out so many all at once… it was almost overwhelming to think about.

"Not gonna take off your buy'ce, vod?" Suik asked, tilting their head curiously as their eyes trailed over his armor in a manner he found a little uncomfortable.

"You'll have to get used to others asking, Din'ika. The Way is not followed by many in this era." Tarre reminded him.

Din wanted to sigh in exasperation.

"I cannot remove my helmet." He stated simply, much to the others visible confusion.

"Din here is from the Djarin Clan and follows The Way." Korrmigan explained with barely contained glee.

From the amount of surprise, awe, and curiosity coming off of them Din just knew he was going to have a headache later. Especially when Suik's scrutiny turned into something much stronger, something Din didn't really want to think about.

"I didn't think those in the Djarin Clan left their compound on Manda'yaim very often." Din ignored the statement, uncertain what he could even say in response. Was it important that they never left their compound? What did these people know about his clan that he didn't? …and did this mean that his ba'buir was alive right now?

Din had known his buir was from Manda'yaim, had been born and raised there before the purges, but he didn't know anything about the Djarin clan outside of their clan symbol, creed, and personal motto.

It was all his buir had been able to teach before he'd been killed in battle during the purges.

"Oh come on! Are you going to do the whole 'mysterious stranger' thing on us?" Suik asked with a roll of their eyes.

He must have been silent for too long, his thoughts whirling. Even so he still didn't have a response for them.

"Suik, don't you start! As long as he does his job I couldn't care less about that sort of thing." Korrmigan stated firmly. "If you lose me a new verd with your osik attitude I will be severely hacked off." And with that Suik quickly shut their mouth and shoved their helmet over their head.

"Sure, alor. Whatever you say." Even without the knowledge that he was sensing others emotions through the force he could tell that Suik wasn't about to drop the topic, only wait for a better moment to try and get answers out of him.

He already felt tired just thinking about it.

From there Din was shown around the warehouse and given a map of the premises. Korrmigan went over his patrol routes and gave him the comm frequencies so he could keep in touch with the security room, where Lila and Suik were stationed to keep an eye on things. Phal and Tura had their own routes that overlapped with his own, that way they could make visual contact with one another at least once an hour in case something happened to their comms.

It was all fairly standard.

The night was quiet but Din knew from experience that quiet did not mean safe. He remained on guard for his entire shift, learning the routes quickly and making sure to chime in whenever Lila or Suik pinged him.

It was an uneventful night and when the sun finally began to rise he nodded at the day shift guard who came to relieve him. Korrmigan paid him for the day and told him to come back again that night. He'd be working four days on and two days off unless his boss needed him to fill someone else's shift.

It was the easiest job he'd ever had.

"That wasn't so bad." Din nearly jumped as Tarre spoke. She'd been oddly quiet the entire night.

'Where've you been?' He asked, rather than dignify her remark with a response.

"I was with you the entire time. I only remained quiet so as not to distract you from your task." She said with a feeling of understanding and pride.

Din was reminded, once again, that his buir wasn't just some random ghost or figment; she had been Mand'alor. Of course she would understand his need for focus, even on a simple job like security. It was a matter of professional pride, after all.

"You should rest, at least for a while. I want to start teaching you how to consciously access the force and I can't do that if you're ready to fall over." Her amusement and motherly concern was a bright spark in his mind and he couldn't help smiling himself.

'Elek, buir.'

Three days later and Din had a free night from work. With what he'd already earned from his security job he'd been able to buy an older model of datapad and download a whole host of study materials. Half of the files were about recent galactic history, centering around the Mandalore sector, while the other half were whatever he could access from the Jedi Temple under Tarre's direction.

He'd tried searching for the Djarin Clan on the local holonet but other than registry entries and a basic rundown of their numbers after a recent census there was nothing of note. Din growled in frustration and his buir let out a small sigh.

"Did you really think the old clans would leave their information somewhere just anyone could find? They are a very traditional clan and keep to themselves for the most part." Din paused, fingers above the keyboard.

'You know about them! Why didn't you say something?' He asked, his inner voice tinged with annoyance.

"I know of them, Din'ika, not about them. The Djarin Clan is as old as the Vizsla Clan, if not older. But I have been asleep for a long time and other than the one verd I met when I was alive I have never interacted with them at length." Din took a deep breath and forced himself to be calm as he deleted his search data and quickly erased his presence from the terminal.

His skill with technology was something he kept well hidden. It helped that others saw all of his weapons and assumed he was a brute. It was advantageous to have his enemies underestimate his intelligence after all.

He could feel Tarre's fierce agreement laced with pride and flushed inside his helmet.

Walking back toward the inn, looking forward to reading the files he'd downloaded, he felt a spike of intent that stopped him in his tracks. A moment later a small body nearly collided with him and it was lucky his reflexes were good or the boy would have fallen on his face.

"Din!" Jaster grinned up at him, looking pleased to see him.

He could feel Tarre perk up and wanted to roll his eyes. She certainly had a soft spot for the kid, although that wasn't too surprising. She had a soft spot for all children.

Almost as big as his own.

"Hey kid, what's new?" He smiled when the boy's eyes brightened.

"Nothing." He said easily with no hesitation. It was the standard answer to his question that made a little more sense in Mando'a.

Din relaxed, glad that nothing had happened since he'd dropped Jaster and Eli off at the orphanage. "Good."

"Where've you been? I went to Tarvi's place but she said you were out a lot." He pouted and Din smiled.

"Sorry, kid, I got a new job." He didn't really know why he was apologizing, Jaster was just a child he'd saved and brought back home. They didn't really have a connection otherwise.

'But you do.' Tarre whispered in the back of his mind.

"Does that mean you're gonna leave soon?" The boy frowned.

"No, it's long term. I'll be here for a while." Ships were expensive and Din didn't even have a proper place to stay yet. Food and housing costs were also a factor. It meant he'd have to take a second job or even some freelance work if he wanted to build up more funds. What he had now from Boba was an emergency fund and it wouldn't last more than a month or two.

"That's great! Did you want me to show you around some more?" The boy's wide expectant grin and hopeful eyes had Din caving immediately.

"Why don't you show me all your favourite places." Din said before he could think twice about it.

Jaster looked up at him, eyes narrowed slightly. "You sure?"

Din held in a sigh and reached down to ruffle the kid's hair. "I'm sure."

At first Jaster looked slightly confused but as Din pulled his gloved hand back he could see the small pleased smile the boy tried to hide.

Honestly. If this was the kind of reaction Jaster gave after one small show of friendly affection from an adult, one he barely knew, then the adults in his life weren't taking care of him like they should have been. The idea that the orphanage was telling people to stay away if they weren't going to adopt a child was still ridiculous to think about.

How were the kids supposed to know what kind of adults were safe and what kinds of adults weren't? Who was teaching them important life skills or giving them the attention they needed? A couple of over-worked caretakers wasn't enough for a group of rambunctious Mandalorian children.

"Not everyone thinks the way you do, Din'ika. Now pay attention to the ad." He bit his tongue and mentally shooed the thoughts away.

"Lead on, kid."

As the two of them walked he looked down at the excited child who was chatting away about all the secret hangout spots he and his little friend group had found. "How are all your vode? Doing well?" He asked when the boy took a moment to breathe.

Jaster blinked up at him before he laughed. "They're good. I left Eli with the Ba'jur'ade, Haj said they had to stay home today to help with a religious… thing." The boy said with a mild look of confusion.

"Oh, I didn't realize but today is," he made the motion with his hands to indicate the 'time of retelling,' a sacred ritual performed once a month in most, but not all, Tusken communities. "It's similar to Remembrances. The tribe takes time to remember their ancestors and honor the harsh lessons they've had to learn. Depending on how old the Tribe is it can take anywhere from five hours to an entire week." Din thought about it for a moment. "The Jhor'ir'alrr Tribe takes three days to complete and at the end they name any children that have been born after the strongest or most cunning heroes of their tales." By the time he was done reminiscing he realized that Jaster was staring up at him and giving off a feeling of awe.

"Kandosii! Can you show me more Tusken signs? I know some but I want to surprise Haj next time." The boy's excitement and sincere desire to surprise his friend by learning more about his culture made Din smile.

"Sure, I'll teach you something new. What have you learned so far?"

Jaster's grin grew wider and he quickly started going through all the motions and associated words he could remember. Most of them were simple greetings, farewells, and command words used by warriors and raiders out on a hunt.

"What about this one? Haj uses it all the time when referring to me." He made a motion with his hand above his head and then drew it down his face, ending with curled fingers in front of his chest.

Din's shoulders shook with mirth and he had to bite down on his lip not to chuckle aloud.

"What? D-did I do it wrong?" The boy asked, brow furrowing in concern.

"No, if you're saying what I think you are, you did it perfectly. But that's not one you should use, it's for your friend when referring to you."

"They said it meant something like 'best friend', what are they saying then?" The boy looked disgruntled and disbelieving, trusting his friend and wary of Din trying to trick him somehow.

Smart kid, and loyal too. "They call you 'little chief.' Your friend thinks you're strong enough to lead them to victory and trusts you to be fair in your judgments during conflict."

It took a moment but Jaster's smile returned, along with that feeling of awe. "What about this one? They said I could use it for them." Jaster placed his right hand on his left shoulder before bringing his spread fingers across his chest and dropping the hand to his side in a clenched fist.

"They are calling themselves your 'first warrior of the tribe,' it means they're your second in command. At least for the warriors." Din explained simply. There was a little more to it than that but… that was not for him to tell. If the Tusken child trusted Jaster enough they would invite him to their tribe and explain what they wanted to do. From there, if Jaster agreed, the two of them could have their bond as honor-bound warrior siblings solidified in the minds of the tribe. Until then Din would give only the most basic information to set Jaster's mind at ease.

"They… they really think that?" The amount of disbelief and hope in the boy's voice made Din's heart hurt. Jaster didn't seem to have trouble trusting others but it was obvious he didn't have the best self image. The boy really couldn't see just how mandokarla he truly was.

Reaching over slowly, in case the boy wanted to pull away, Din ruffled his hair gently. "Yes. Tuskens come from a harsh homeworld where every day is a struggle to survive. They are considered savages by most of the galaxy, but they are just doing their best to survive and keep their culture alive." Much like the Covert. "Their honor is their life and they would rather cut out their tongue than lie." He snickered as Jaster swatted playfully at his hand, although the boy didn't actually object to the affectionate touch. "You have a loyal friend in Hak'ruul'ujak."

"Yeah… I do." He said with a bright spark of wonder. "Thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome." Din said softly.

'Ni kar'tayl gai-' Tarre whispered, the first half of the adoption vow echoing in his mind. Din took a deep breath and pushed at the sensation until the words were nothing more than a faint buzz in the back of his head.

He was going to have words with his buir later.

"You said you could tell me something new to sign with Haj?" Jaster said, looking up at him as they turned a corner into the warehouse district.

"Uh, yes." He agreed quickly. "Hold out both arms in front of you, like this." He held his arms crossed in front of him, hands closed loosely and palms facing away from himself. Once Jaster copied him Din turned his arms inward so that the palms were facing his body and brought them in to thump against his chest. Once Jaster had completed the action Din nodded in approval.

"What does it mean?"

"It translates to 'trusted friend,' and in the Tribes it means you know that person will watch your back no matter what. Like a tal'vod." In the Covert Din hadn't really had a blood-sibling, someone sworn to guard your back even into the jaws of death itself. He knew he couldn't swear something like that when he was the Covert's only Beroya. But after giving up his son to the Jedi there had been one person he considered close enough, strong enough, to be his tal'vod and watch his back.

Even now, thrown into the past and alone, he considered Boba to be his close and trusted friend.

"You are not alone, ner ad." He felt a sensation much like a gentle kov'nyn and had to take slow breaths in order to control his sudden urge to cry.

"You know a lot about Tuskens." Jaster's voice cut through his thoughts and for that Din was grateful.

"I spent a lot of time hunting on Tatooine, met them out in the wastes during the first few years as a beroya. Ended up saving a tribe from a pack of scyks and earning my place among them. I spent months learning their ways and they always respected my ways in return." None of them had ever asked him to remove his helmet or go against his creed. "When they realized I was good at their language they started bringing tribe disputes to me as a neutral party. Over time they started to trust me and I found many tribes were willing to let me stay in their territory as long as I didn't interrupt their hunts." He shrugged and looked around, frowning at the dilapidated state of the buildings around them.

"How close are we to that favourite place of yours?" He asked as he eyed the mostly abandoned area warily.

"It's just over there." Jaster turned his attention to their surroundings and pointed at a smaller warehouse with chipped sandy paint and boarded windows. Din's brows rose incredulously as the kid dashed forward and pulled a large piece of rusted metal out of the way. "Hurry up!" The boy hissed, waving him toward the gaping hole in the side of the building.

Din let out a loud sigh but did as the boy asked, crouching and climbing through the crumbling gap and into the old warehouse.

The moment he stepped inside he was met with two bright lights shining right into his visor. Thankfully the programs he'd installed in his helmet were enough to compensate and he wasn;t blinded by the two children.

"Woah, Jas! You actually brought him!" The boy, Daryx if he remembered correctly, pointed his light at the ground and bounced on his heels in excitement.

"I told you he'd do it! Now we can get help." Din frowned at the blue twi'lek girl, Mal'afan he was fairly sure, as she came over to help Jaster hide the entrance to the warehouse.

Scanning the decrepit building he didn't even need the advanced programs in his helmet to know that this place had been abandoned for quite some time, and was in complete disrepair. It was a health hazard for anyone, let alone a group of children with no supervision.

"What do you think, Din? It's great isn't it? We get all this space to ourselves and there's lots of stuff to build things with!" Jaster grinned up at him and grabbed his hand, tugging him further into the vast cluttered space.

"Build?" He asked, letting himself be pulled by the excited child.

"Yeah! Our secret base. Come on!" Following the three kids further into the warehouse he noticed the kicked up dust all over the floor and the clearly broken containers that had been cracked open and had their contents stolen long ago. He doubted it had been the kids doing it, some of them had been left undisturbed long enough that moss was growing through the cracks.

The kids tugged on his arms to make him stop and he wondered when the blonde boy had grabbed his other arm. "Now, vod!" The blue twi'lek girl called happily.

The sound of a choking engine met his ears before there was a sudden clang and a yelp. Then, with the flicker of old lights that were wearing out from use, he finally saw what they were so proud of. All things considered it was an accomplishment for a group of five kids around the age of ten. Then again he knew that at his age he had been too busy learning how to kill in the fighting corps to have had time to build what was obviously a club house of some sort out of scrap.

"Where did you even get the welder?" He asked as he came closer and inspected the cobbled metal walls. "And who did the wiring for the lights?" Turning to the kids he was surprised to find them absolutely beaming up at him, save for the purple twi'lek girl who was scowling at a tear in her sleeve.

"Saviin found the welder in the trash. It works fine so I don't know why someone would toss it." Daryx said with a shrug. "And it's not hard to get the gas cannisters with the money Jaster gets from showing aruetiise around." The boy looked quite proud of himself for that. "And Mal'afan does the wiring, her hands don't shake like mine."

"What about all the sheets of metal?" He asked, turning to look down at the little group.

"There's lots of junk around here. You just need a crowbar and a pair of strong cutters." Jaster said with a grin. "Daryx is good at finding the right pieces." The blonde boy flushed slightly at the praise and Din had to hold in another sigh.

They were all so proud of themselves that he couldn't bring himself to chastise them for putting themselves in unnecessary danger. "That's… pretty impressive." He finally said, knowing exactly how awkward he sounded by the worried looks the kids were giving him. "But I think it could do with some improvements."

Daryx scowled. "What kinda improvements?"

Din tilted his head in a way he hoped would be interpreted as amused. "Secret bases can always use better security." He said with a smile. "Why don't we turn this into a fortress?" If his 'defenses' ended up making the entire structure just that much more sturdy so it wouldn't fall apart with the kids inside then… they didn't need to know.

"Hand me the cutters, let's go hunting." The kids cheered loudly and gathered all their little tools.

Din wasn't their buir, he wasn't their aliit, he couldn't really tell them what they could and couldn't do. But if he could make everything a bit more safe he'd count that as a win.

"C'mon Din! You're big, you can grab the stuff we can't reach!"

"Alright, alright. Show me what you want and I'll get it."

After working on the little base for a couple of hours he convinced the kids to return to the orphanage and walked with them, just to be safe. He answered their questions as best he could and didn't chide them for hanging off his body, except when Daryx accidentally grabbed his belt near the darksaber and he had to warn the blonde away from the dangerous weapons he carried.

There wasn't anywhere Din felt safe enough to hide it so he was keeping it on his belt for the time being, hidden by his cloak as best he could.

So far no one had commented on it.

"That's because I am shielding its presence." Din jolted slightly at the reappearance of his buir and he could feel, more than hear, her bright laughter. "Have no fear that someone will see it and comment, Din'ika. I will keep it hidden as long as possible. You are not ready for a confrontation yet."

He wasn't sure what that meant and wasn't sure he wanted to know even if he could understand.

His buir just chuckled at him and disappeared once again.

Din walked with the kids all the way to the gate of the orphanage, where one of the ba'jur'ade was standing. The kids all greeted the caretaker cheerfully and headed inside the building. It was well before sunset so Din was feeling quite relieved that they would be safe.

Once the kids were gone the ba'jur'ad rounded on him. "Miss Ixis told us about you. How you saved Jas'ika from an attacker and brought he and little El'ika home."

Din nodded. Those were things he had actually done, there was no reason to hide it.

"She also told me that she warned you to stay away from the ade unless you were planning to adopt one of them." The younger woman's eyes looked angry but there was a sense of expectant hope and exhaustion coming from her that made Din shift uncomfortably in his boots.

"I…" He took a moment to breathe deeply and calm himself before speaking. "I don't have the means." It came out in a near whisper but thankfully the helmet mic picked it up so the woman heard him.

It felt like cutting his own stomach open and performing a surgery with no anesthetic to admit that he couldn't take care of the children. That he couldn't help no matter how he wanted to.

"Then please don't come by here again until you're ready." The caretaker said with a dejected air.

Din's helmet tilted slightly but he refused to move. Something was telling him he should ask, some instinct his buir had been telling him not to ignore. "Why?" He finally blurted. "Children are the future. They should have adults around to help teach them, so they know what it feels like to be part of an aliit."

The woman looked mildly stunned for a moment before she glanced around, as if worried they would be overheard. She stepped closer and lowered her voice. "I'll tell you because you saved Jas'ika, stars know that boy needs someone to look out for him." She smiled sadly. "We aren't governmentally funded at the moment. The Governor of Manda'yaim hasn't been sending funds. He said… that if we were so determined to adhere to the old ways we should find plenty of buire to adopt the children… without their help."

Din's hands clenched at his sides. "You have no one looking after the foundlings?"

The woman looked at him slightly oddly but nodded. "What we get are local donations and a lot of the clans here are barely staying afloat after the new laws banned some of the more profitable mercenary work and shut down one of the manufacturing plants here." She shook her head and sighed. "The largest donations come from Clan Vizsla, but they have strict rules about how we're allowed to spend the funding and who is allowed to interact with the children. If we disobey…" She rung her hands before forcing herself to stop.

"…if you were to get a donation from another clan that could replace what Vizsla is giving you, one that didn't have as many strict rules, would you take it?"

She looked surprised but nodded absently. "Of course. How are the ade supposed to find families that will care for them if they can't interact with potential buire?"

"Thank you for the explanation." He said sincerely.

"You're welcome. Now that you know I hope you'll heed Ba'jur'ad Ixis words."

Din let out a small sigh. "If I see the ade out around town I won't ignore them. But I won't return here." At least not until he could solve their funding issue.

The woman's shoulders sagged in relief and she smiled. "Vor'e, Ka'ra watch over you."

Giving a short nod he turned on his heel and let his legs lead him, his mind whirling.

"I can smell the smoke, Din'ika, what ideas are cooking in your head?" Tarre asked as she appeared beside him.

'I'm going to approach other clans to see if we can match Vizsla's donation. The rules they've imposed… they're wrong. Something about all this is wrong.' He practically growled, if only in his mind.

His buir's shoulders drooped slightly and there was a feeling of deep hurt that ached in the core of his being. "My clan has fallen far from grace, I will not allow it to continue. Children are the most precious resource and to neglect them like this is unacceptable."

'We don't have any allies.' Din reminded her.

Tarre's helmet tilted and he knew she was smiling down at him, it was not a nice smile. "I do believe you have an invitation to visit Clan Vhehn, do you not? That nice Protectorate seemed quite taken with you."

Din bit back a groan. "Taken?" He asked, certain he didn't want to actually know what she meant by it.

"Din'ika, we need to work on your observational skills when it comes to how people perceive you." She said with an exasperated air. "That boy is attracted to you."

Din froze as a flush crossed his face. That wasn't- he wasn't- he didn't know- how was he supposed to- so many thoughts ran through his mind at once and it made him feel dizzy.

"Easy, Din'ika, deep breaths. You don't have to return his affection, or even comment on it. It is up to the young man to make his desires known and to respect your choice if you decline him. Dar'baati, ner ad. It's not as difficult a situation as you are thinking."

He took a moment to let his heart and breathing calm down before he continued walking, looking around as discreetly as possible to see if anyone had found his sudden statuesque state odd. He wanted to hunch his shoulders up around his ears when he realized that he was being stared at. But he carefully forced his shoulders down and let his naturally long stride take him as far away from the stares as possible.

"We're going to have to work on that too." He heard his buire say with a chuckle.

'What now?' He asked.

"Interacting with others when you're not on a mission."

'I'm fine.' He frowned, not pouted, Din did not pout.

"Din'ika, until you can pass on the Dha'kad'au it must be you who leads the people. You can't do that if any time someone stares in your direction you get the urge to fight or flee…" She paused for a moment before a pang of worry and hurt came across whatever bond their shared. "Oh, Din'ika, when was the last time you had a clan member to help you with your beskar'gam? To tend your wounds? To guard you while you slept?" The sheer gentleness in her presence almost made him tear up but he forced the feeling down as hard as he could.

'It's been… a long time. I was the sole Beroya of the Covert. I… was alone a lot. Then there was Grogu and we had to keep running…' It was what he'd had to do to protect the foundling.

"We'll talk about this later. Right now you need to meditate and sleep."

'Kind of early to sleep.'

"We'll be doing a different kind of meditation tonight, you'll want the rest."

Grudgingly he accepted her word and turned toward the inn he currently called home.

By the time he went to sleep that night he had officially been in the past for one core standard week.

He had no idea what kinds of changes he had already brought to the future.

Mando'a;

Beskar'gam- Mandalorian Iron armor.
Buy'ce- Helmet
Vod- Sibling, companion, comrade in arms.
Manda'yaim- The planet Mandalore.
Ba'buir- Grandparent.
Verd- Warrior/Soldier
Osik- Excrement
Alor- Boss/Chief/Leader
Elek- Yes
Ba'jur'ade- Teachers/Caretakers
Mandokarla- Having 'the right stuff.' Being the epitome of Mandalorian virtues. Showing guts and spirit.
Tal'vod- Blood brother or blood sister, someone you trust that is sworn to guard your back in battle.
Aliit- Clan, family.
Dar'baati- Don't worry.
Dha'kad'au- Darksaber.