Chapter 28

-Piece By Piece-

It was their first night aboard their new ship, their new shared home. Their home, theirs. The Leo.

They had taken it upon themselves to reconstruct the sleeping quarters of the new ship, making it big enough for two, let alone for one. No more of the very cramped sleeping quarters of the Razor Crest. That was one thing about the ship neither of them were going to miss all that much, if at all.

Their reconstruction of the ship helped make it more homey, more personal, and right at the start. Although it was a new space for both of them, it already felt familiar, already felt like it was theirs. It was a very special place, and carried a very special feeling on top of that.

This was the start of their new life together.

Yes, together.

"You hung the hammock," she noted. That was the only similarity between these sleeping quarters and the Crest's: Leo's hammock hanging above the cot.

"Yeah, it reminds me of him... And, who knows, maybe he can come visit us sometime. Spend the night, or a few days with us..." His words trailed off, but she could still hear the longing deep in his voice, framing the words.

She rested a gentle hand on his arm. "I miss him too."

"Yeah."

Then she nodded to the hammock. "And I love it. That's a great idea. He'd better have some time to visit - though I'm not all that sure of what Jedi training all entails..."

He chuckled and rested his hand over hers on his arm.

She leaned into his touch. "He brought us together, that little green bean. And I will be forever grateful to him for it."

"Yeah, that little womp rat." He chuckled fondly.

She grinned, sensing that he was smiling a little beneath his helmet as well. "Our little womp rat."

"Oh - I'm sorry-" Aula turned away when she saw Din, standing out in the open in the middle of the ship, removing his cloak. "Sorry, I should have knocked-" It was strange though, for he hardly ever changed out of his armour, and even if he did, he tucked himself away and out of view.

But this time, this time it was different. "No, it's fine, don't be sorry. I'm glad you saw me. I don't want you to be sorry for seeing me."

He was trying to tell her something. "Din, what's this?"

He stepped closer to her. "I wasn't lying when I said you and Leo had changed me."

"I didn't think you were. I wasn't lying either."

"I've spent my life giving my all to the Madalorian cause, the Creed, but now I have this-" He reached out to take her hands in his. "-Something more, something bigger, and I want to give my all to that - if you will have me..."

She decided to joke a little to lighten the mood. "'If' I will have you - you're making it sound like I might change my mind."

"Of course you can - I'm hoping you won't, but-"

She chuckled. "Don't worry, Din. I'm not going to change my mind. But you can."

"I don't want to either. I know it's moving fast-"

"I know - but I don't want to lose a moment."

"Me neither."

She squeezed his hands. "You know, if I could start again, I'd find you sooner so that we could have more time. But for now, I will cherish every second we do have."

A chuckle rumbled through him. "Well said, Cyar'ika." Then there was a pause, and she could hear him swallowing nervously. "I want - I want you to seeme... See all of me - see me..."

She understood what he meant: he wanted her to see him without the armour - without any armour. He wanted her to see the Din Djarin beneath all the heavy armour, even though she already knew him, and deeply.

He had already seen her in just the cloth wrap around her chest more than once - her confidence in her own skin always impressed him. For so long, his skin was the thick, heavy metal of his armor. What lay beneath was unfamiliar to most, even to him to some degree.

"I'd like that," she said. "But only if you're sure."

"I am. Very sure." With that, he began by removing his gloves, as they had started many times before. They entwined fingers like they always did when his gloves were removed. Then came his helmet, the next piece. Even that had become more familiar now.

She chuckled.

"What?" He stopped.

"It's just, you look so tiny with your big shoulder pads and no helmet-"

Those were the next to go, the shoulder armour, the next to come off, be removed, slowly and with great care. Aula's heart had begun to race - they had never done this before, never gone this far. She was sure that if she placed her hand over his chest she could feel his heart thundering beneath the layers of armour.

She did so, and sure enough, there was the rapid thump thump of his heartbeat, matching her own, in time to hers.

"Wait- it's not fair if you're the only one showing yourself-" With that she removed her tunic, pulling it up over her head and messing up her hair, but with the biggest grin on her face. The sight was so endearing he chuckled.

Of course, he had seen her this way before, but was he still blushing? Her heart swelled with love for him.

"My turn."

Beskar gone, he pulled his shirt up over his head, also ruffling his hair. She felt her eyes widen at the new sight before her - his bare broad chest.

He chuckled. "Like what you see?"

She blinked back.

He let her go so far as tracing the many scars that swirled across his chest and arms. There were many, of course, understandably, for he had been living the life of a warrior for so long.

"Do you remember how you got all these?" she murmured.

"Most of them, yes."

"This one?"

"Blaster shot."

"This one?"

"A ship crash."

"And this?"

"That ones a little embarrassing - I sliced myself with a blade as a teenager."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, not my proudest moment."

"Well we all have to start somewhere. And we never stop learning."

He chuckled. "Has anyone ever told you how wise you are?"

"No, mostly just how annoying I am."

"Well that's not the way I see it."

"Well thank you, I'm glad. Not even a little bit?"

"No."

"Not even just a little bit?"

"No..."

"Not even just the tiniest, littlest, smallest bit-"

"Okay, now maybe a little bit..."

She snorted with laughter and lightly hit his chest. Then she went back to tracing his scars.

"Are you counting them?"

"Maybe... I'm curious..."

He rubbed his hands up and down her bare arms, his rough palms creating goosebumps all along her skin. "Mesh'la..." He murmured, drawing them closer.

He traced the bruises that lined her torso, thanks to their last mission, dark splotches that marred her skin, reminders of the battles fought and their desperation and determination to retrieve Leo and return him to safety. To bring him home.

Home...

Her body was trembling and it took him a moment to realize she was laughing. "Cyar'ika?"

She removed her hand from over her mouth where she had been trying to stifle her laughter. "That tickles," she snorted.

"What, this?" He gently brushed his finger against her belly again.

"Yes!" She was laughing harder now, making him laugh too.

Both removed their boots, leaving them bare-chested - or in her case mostly bare-chested - and only in their trousers now. They lay down beside one another, bodies pressed against each other, skin touching.

Din's arms circled protectively around her small form. "Goodnight Charika. Sleep well."

"Goodnight, Din."

There was a moment of silence before he cleared his throat and added in a whisper, "Thank you."

She responded by snuggling closer.

Ugh, finally! I'm not so happy that this chapter took me so long, but I've been busy with a new job, busy with other stories, and I wanted this chapter to be perfect - or almost so! ;)

I've also been thinking up some new plot points for this story, so I've been trying my best to weave those in here, so bear with me!

Thank you so much for your patience with the slow updates and for reading and, as always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)