Grogu chirped in fear as Din scrambled down the hill on Tython to check out the new ship that had landed nearby. He fidgeted on the top of the round stone and forced himself to calm as he thought, When has he ever let him down? When had he not protected him and kept him safe?

He adjusted himself on the stone and looked around himself, gurgling happily at the pretty butterflies fluttering about the clearing. He knew something like this once. Somewhere where he was safe. A memory of small children, like himself, running about, the soft smiles of tall figures and an echo of a vast view of soft clouds continuing forever on the horizon. But those times ended and were overshadowed by fear, hunger and tall, dark unsmiling faces.

Grogu frowned and shook his mind away from the dark memories. He anxiously looked around for his protector and called out for him again. He couldn't see him anymore so he closed his eyes and tentatively stretched out his senses to search for him. As he did, a long forgotten ghost, a memory of a soft voice rose up and, with the beckoning force in the clearing, his fingers instinctively met as he breathed and spread his senses up and out. The surrounding force in the clearing rushed about him in response and a millennia of ambient flow of the force moved and guided him.

His mind leapt up and soared as his body fell deeper into a meditative trance. A small fearful part of him urged him to open his eyes, slide off the rock and go look for his protector but it was overruled by his curiosity and wonder at the vastness of the universe opening up to his mind.

He soared up and felt the planet turn, felt the wonder of the force as a bright light within every creature and rock. It overwhelmed him at first until he pushed away from trying to comprehend every small light and focused more on the whole, the entirety of what was before him. Everything flowed, had a purpose, had life. There was a hidden ancient order to every small detail that ebbed and flowed within the force.

Suddenly anxious, Grogu looked back towards the planet and reached out his mind to find his protec-

And recoiled in fear as another mind touched his. He sped away from it, trying to get back to his own body but the mind pursuing his was stronger and faster. He could only cower in fear as the mind came closer and surrounded him.

Instead of invading, it stopped and stayed still. Waiting. Curious. Calm. Inviting him and not pushing.

Grogu tentatively peeked up from behind the shield his mind had made and observed the mind before him, wishing he had his ball with him to comfort him.

He felt the mind's curiosity and soothing nature that flowed from it and felt himself calm down by it enough to reach out a tendril of his own mind towards it.

Hello, little one, it said.

Grogu almost recoiled again, not in fear, but in surprise. This felt like the calm soothing feeling that Ahsoka had when he had conversed with her.

My name is Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. What is your name?

Grogu, he replied tentatively as hope blossomed in him. There were still Jedi!

Hello, Grogu. I have been searching for ones like you. Like us. I can come and bring you to a place where you can learn of the ways of the force. A sense of peace and comfort rose up gently from the mind of the Jedi but Grogu felt a niggling sense of fear from those words. So many creatures had sought him to only trick him by promises and trickery, sell him, acquire him for his power. The only place he had truly felt safe was with Din.

Grogu turned away from the mind of the Jedi Master and looked back toward the planet. His protector, his safe place was down on the planet, waiting for him. He felt concern from the mind of the Jedi behind him as he hesitated.

Grogu, I can help you. I can help you understand and train you in the ways of the Jedi. You are not alone.

Grogu looked back towards the Jedi and wavered. His heart remembered the time when he had once had teachers who taught him of the force. He recalled a distant memory of ones that had taught him, lead him, helped him to focus and feel the beauty and flow of the force.

But he had also felt the love and care of another that had rescued him, cared for him, fed him. Who had risked his own life for him. One who had not broken any promises but had been there, unwavering, a solid presence.

Grogu, I can come and help you. Bring you to a place where you will be safe.

Grogu, once more looked back down at the planet and was quiet for a moment before he turned back to the Jedi.

No.

He knew where he belonged. He belonged to Din and Din belonged to him. He was safe with him. Of all those ones he had been taken by, his kidnapper-turned-protector had been the one who he felt the safest with. Ahsoka wanted him to be trained and wanted him to find another to train him. But now, faced with the idea of possibly leaving his guardian, he knew where he belonged.

He felt the surprise of the Jedi as he turned and sped away, back down to his own body, glowing brightly like a beacon in the force. He settled back into his own body and slowly opened his eyes.

Tired. He was so tired and spent. He lay down on the stone and as he closed his eyes, he knew that his guardian would never let anything happen to him and that he had made the right choice.

—————

DANGER

WAKE UP

Grogu woke up groggily as he sensed the force warning him of sudden danger and warbled as he realized he was surrounded by dark humanoid machines.

Before he could orient his mind to what was happening, he was grabbed and suddenly was airborne, wind whistling in his ears as a painful arm crushed him tightly. He looked down and saw his protector running towards him and felt the anguish and pain erupting from him as he was carried up and away from him.

Grogu fearfully looked up at the dark metal droid crushing him to itself and suddenly he felt angry.

Angry in a way he had never felt before. It was always him that was treated like this. He was always the one to be tossed about and grabbed, taken, acquired for no other reason than that he was special and that he was somehow valuable to others.

And now that he had found his place in this vast universe, he was angry that he was being taken away against his will. Again. And this time he was taken away from Din.

The anger in him boiled over to rage and he lifted his hands up, tiredness pushed aside, and reached out in the force and tore the head off of the droid that carried him. It made a metallic screech as sparks flew and then they were floating in the air for a second before gravity took over and they began to plummet towards the earth below.

Grogu weakly squirmed out of the crushing embrace of the dead droid as they started free-falling and frantically clung to it. The other three droid had turned around and were descending towards him with their cruel hands reaching out to grasp him.

Angry again, he reached out with renewed energy bolstered by his growing rage, it was easy this time and he didn't feel himself getting tired as he usually did, and with a hand-turned-fist, crushed all three together till it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. Panting raggedly, he looked down towards the nearing ground and flung himself away from the scrap metal that once used to be a droid.

Closing his eyes tightly he knew he would be safe. Why wouldn't he? Din had always been there to save him, rescue him. Din had always made sure he was safe and cared for. Din would never let him fall. He reached out and tried to slow his decent but it was harder to grasp and so he let out a low huff and willed himself to slow using his new found strength in his frustration.

As he slowed he felt a quick jerk and felt himself being wrapped in another metallic embrace but this time it meant safety. It meant protection and warmth and everything that was good in his life.

He opened his eyes and gurgled tiredly in happiness, eyes drooping in exhaustion, as he sat squarely on top of Din who had caught him and rolled, protecting him from the rocks and hard shrubs that dotted the landscape.

"You did good, kid." Din groaned as he stiffly sat up making sure to check if Grogu was unharmed.

"We need to leave NOW." A female voice barked.

Grogu wearily looked up at the woman that had ran up and narrowed his eyes at her. He raised his hands ready to tear her head away just like he had with the terrible dark droids before he was stopped by a soft gruff voice.

"Nah, kid, she's good." Said Din as he grunted and lifted himself off of the ground. He pushed a button on the side of his helmet and looked up at the ship orbiting up above them. "Let's get out of here before they send more of those."

Din reached down and picked him up before they all started sprinting down the hill towards the clearing where they had landed their ship.

"Get in my ship." Boba Fett's voice crackled through the comm link as they got closer to a blacked crater where another ship was preparing for take off.

"No, wait. I need to get something." Din panted out as he sprinted towards the crater and kicked around the blackened rocks. Grogu held on desperately as he watched his guardian kick up sand and melted rock and let out a shocked warble at the sudden realization that the crater was where their ship used to be. His home was gone. All that was left was scrap metal and barely even that.

A sparkle caught his eye and, with a desperate pull of the force, the small metallic ball was in his shaking clawed hands.

"Got it." The Mandalorian whispered as he grasped and lifted up the dusty unbroken spear of pure beskar and made his way, quickly, over to the other ship and into it as the doors started hissing shut.

Grogu mournfully let out a low cry as the doors to the ship closed and he lost sight of the crater that had once held the only home he had known for a long time. He held his ball closer to himself and weakly snuggled into the shoulder of his guardian, snuffling as tears built in his eyes.

"Setting a course in hyperspace." The older, green armored Mandalorian growled out as he punched in coordinates and the ship sped up towards the small pinpricks of starlight against the darkness of space. He pulled back a lever and the pinpricks turned into streaks of light as they leapt into the safety of hyperspace away from the Empire.

Grogu grasped his guardians cloak in one hand and in the other, he shakily held onto his small dusty metal ball. A small seed of bitterness grew in him as he clenched his fists tighter and growled darkly, vowing to never let anyone take anything away from him or his protector again. As long as they were together, he was safe and from now on he would make sure that nothing would ever take him away from his guardian. Feeling his back rubbed and held gently, he wearily closed his eyes and fell asleep to the steady rise and fall of the chest of his Mandalorian.