Din could hardly believe that Grogu was finally back with him. It was like a miracle come true, some power in the universe deeming it be so. Maybe that was what the Force was. Either way, he wasn't complaining.

"Ad'ika." It felt so good to murmur that word over and over again, though Grogu was sound asleep, his soft breathing such a comforting sound.

How many nights had Din spent restlessly yearning for this? Rolling the tiny silver metal ball between his gloved fingers? Grogu was his family. They were aliit. And Din could no longer bear the thought of pressing on through a world where they were anything but.

Even so, he had to wonder. The Jedi – Luke. He'd taken the child for training. What had changed?

And his… ability. Din could still feel the strange shiver that'd taken hold of him when he'd watched the little one, so tiny compared with that Rancor, stand there and do something. He made it seem so laughably easy.

And part of Din was worried. This was no longer a mission. Grogu had met with a Jedi, and quite obviously learned from him. There was nowhere to go anymore, no leads to track down, nothing. But that was, at the same time, peaceful. They were two again, only this time they could truly be the clan that Din had hoped they would be from the moment he declared it.

But there, watching Grogu, both safe in the ship, Din felt that all was right with the world.

**A**

Of course, the promise of returning to the family they were meant to be came with no small amount of trouble. Din could swear that nothing at all had changed – from the little one falling asleep in the strangest of places(and though he wouldn't admit it, scaring Din half to death while he was at it) to coming far too close to wrecking what was supposed to be a peaceful meal.

Still, it was never anything serious, and there was always that reminder that pushed Din into enjoying the moment while he could. He hardly had the heart to tell Grogu off half of the time.

But that was the way he preferred it, even if sometimes nothing short of tearing the ship apart could help him find the kid, or if that fleeting moment of desperation, the paranoia that this had all been a dream tore Din apart. Because in the end, Grogu always seemed to show up at the right times, cooing softly at him in a way that told him it was all okay.

Din had to wonder who was taking care of who, honestly.

**B**

It was as if the kid knew before Din himself knew. But it was like an itch, a wrong that Din was eager to right. Twice, he'd taken off the helmet – both for Grogu. He would do it again in a heartbeat. But, sitting there, the kid across from him, the ship's quiet humming serving as a calming background. Grogu blinked at him, tilting his head, and then he was moving toward him, tugging Din's sleeve out from beneath the armour until, with a gentle huff, he lifted him up, cradling him with one arm.

And the child reached for the helmet, pointing without a sound, so solemnly that Din wanted to laugh.

It was far easier to take the helmet off this time. Part of Din felt like he'd been hiding, unsure of the footing. But even as the helmet disengaged, and Din hesitated as he slowly pulled it upwards – it was like it took with it a weight that he'd been unable to shake for a long, long time. Grogu's eyes were wide and inquisitive, but there was a softness to them that Din had seen many a time. It felt… different, though. Seeing his little one without the helmet warping it.

Grogu reached forward, the gesture mimicking almost exactly the one back on the ship all that time ago, moments before they'd taken their separate paths. Din felt warm as the tiny hand brushed against his face, and the child cooed at him.

If nothing else, they had each other.

I had a lot of fun writing this! Thank you to Amina for hosting the Father-Son exchange on AO3. 3