Disclaimer: I made the Bo-Din fanart but otherwise, I own nothing here.

Take my Hand

AN: Ya'll asking for fluff, but all I seem to give you is angst/hurt/comfort... I don't do this on purpose, I swear!

Spoiler warning: This takes place right after the previous chapter, so S3-E7 spoilers!

Heartache

It was a gray, drizzly day. It seemed to perfectly reflect the mood hanging in the air, as if the intense mourning all around were a tangible creature, huge and looming over everything.

Bo stared into the gently rippling water of her family's courtyard fountain, the white lilies adorning the surface bobbed around happily, as if it wasn't the most terribly sad day in her young life.

She sniffed and scrubbed tears off her face with one hand, then poked at one of the flowers with the other, making it topple, only for it to stubbornly bob back up, as if to mock her.

She could hear the murmuring behind her as all the adults either sobbed openly or offered condolences to her father and her two older siblings. She really had no interest in being around anyone, but she had nonetheless been forced out of her room to observe the proceedings. Something about laying her mother to rest.

What kind of nonsense was that, anyway? Her mother was dead. Why couldn't adults just speak the truth? Why put everything in dumb riddles?

"Will your youngest not join the procession?" some stuffy old man grumbled, and Bo could feel a number of eyes on her back, but she didn't turn to face them. Let them think she didn't care. It was easier to just stare at the water and poke the harmless flowers.

She never really understood her mother's fascination with the white lilies, but she remembered sitting beside her and listening intently when she said something about how they represented life and rebirth. Maybe her mom would come back someday too. She hoped so.

She heard her father sigh in response. "She's only six. I won't force her to take part if she doesn't want to."

There was some more murmurs that Bo couldn't quite hear, but she soon heard her father's footsteps; they were distinct, since he had a subtle limp which gave every other step a harder tap.

She didn't look up when he drew beside her, though she could see his dark brown boots in her peripheral. For some reason, his closeness made more pain and tears bubble forth and she couldn't hold back the sob that escaped her mouth.

His strong, comforting arms were around her in an instant, enveloping her in what felt like a safety net, despite the intense pain flaring in her throat. He said nothing as he weathered her whimpering, racking sobs, hushing her softly in the only comfort he knew how to offer.

By the time she pushed away to look up at him properly, his own green eyes were gleaming with tears, his short cropped red hair damp from the lazy drizzle. His deep voice cracked a little as he tried to smile. "Who knew my little fireball was so full of tears?"

His attempt at a joke was lost on her as she pushed at his chest in frustration; he was so solid, like an unmovable mountain, that he hardly budged. "Why?" she cried, over and over again she cried the question, as if maybe she would somehow get a satisfying answer if she just kept asking.

"Everyone dies someday, Ad'ika," Adonai told her sadly. "Though I admit, she left you too soon..." He sighed deeply and wiped at her streaming tears. "Much too soon."

Bo felt her voice leave her throat like a pathetic whine, so small and broken. "Will I ever see her again, Buir?"

"She is with the ancestors now," her father murmured so quietly, it was almost a whisper. He shuttered his eyes for a moment, as if he were thinking deeply before opening them again to meet hers. "But perhaps, someday, if you live an honorable life, you will see her again."

Bo sniffed, her sobs receding as a tiny flame of hope lit in her chest. "How will I know if I lived an honorable life, Buir?"

"You will know, Ad'ika," he told her solemnly. He placed a strong, gentle hand on her head. "You will know."

A crackling, static-like racket woke Bo from her fitful slumber and she grumbled out a mild curse as she opened her eyes to see Grogu in her lap and once again pushing buttons.

He turned his big, round eyes up at her and announced something in gibberish as he pointed to the console, where a bluish hologram of a woman flickered in and out.

"What's the hubbub Mando?" the hologram woman asked as she appeared to lean forward and squint. "Hold on, you're not Mando! What're you doing with the kid?"

"I'm a friend," Bo replied with a sneer; she still felt groggy and not enthused about holding a conversation with anyone, much less some shady mechanic by the looks of her. "My name is Bo-Katan." She leaned forward herself and asked with no small amount of suspicion, "Who are you?"

The mechanic narrowed her own gaze suspiciously before finally seeming to accept the situation. "Bokataang? That's a weird name, and I've heard some strange ones, lemme tell you."

Bo felt her sneer deepen as the other woman blathered on, which she seemed to notice and backpedaled with a raised hand. "Now take it easy missy, the name's Peli and I've got some history with Mando and the kid. He's always askin' for help, actually..."

Bo leaned over and checked the transmission log with a raised brow. "Tatooine?" Fett's newly claimed territory?

"Yep!" Peli replied with a proud thump to her chest. "That snazzy N-1 you're sittin' in? Rebuilt right here in my garage." She made a show of trying to look around. "So where is Mando? And what's with the call? Don't tell me the kid learned to work the transmitter all on his own?..."

When Grogu piped up with some loud vocalizations, Peli seemed to melt into a wide, tooth-missing grin. "Aww, you did, didn't you! You're so clever, calling ol' Peli all by yourself!"

Bo watched with sudden interest as Grogu giggled for the first time since Din had been captured. She turned back to Peli's image. "So... You're a friend."

Peli placed both hands on her hips with no small amount of sass. "Well of course! The kid and me have a special bond, if I do say so myself. Isn't that right, little guy?"

Grogu gurgled at her emphatically, his little arms reaching out to further his answer.

Bo's mind worked quickly as she tried to piece together a plan of action. This Peli woman seemed like a decent sort if Grogu's reaction to her was anything to go by. And Tatooine was under the protection Boba-Fett, another of Din's friends... Bo just didn't have time to deliver him there...

"Din- Mando, as you call him, has gotten himself into a fix. I need to go help him but I also need someone to watch the kid..."

"Bah! Men!" Peli threw her hands up for dramatic flair before dropping them back to her hips." Always needing our help, am I right?"

Bo blinked back, offering no reply; she didn't have time for this nonsense.

Again, the mechanic seemed to catch the hint. "A-Anyway, yeah, sure, I'll help you out. I'd love to watch the little womp rat!"

Bo nodded and checked the transmission registry for the exact coordinates. "I can't bring him to you myself. I'll send him with someone I trust, though."

Grogu looked up at her with a hurt expression, which Bo could not bring herself to look at for more than an instant. Her heart clenched painfully when he pushed on her left hand, indicating a distinctive 'No'.

"Ok then," Peli replied and waved a hand to Grogu. "See you soon, kid!"

The transmission cut out right as Grogu made a whimpering noise in response. He seemed thoroughly torn between excitement at seeing Peli and worry at being sent away.

Bo tried not to let the look of betrayal in Grogu's eyes bother her, but the guilt she felt cut deep; she wasn't entirely sure why. "I'm sorry kid, but I can't take you with me. Din would never forgive me if I let something happen to you."

Taking him along the first time had been dangerous enough, but knowing there was an imperial garrison stationed there, coupled with the reckless ship ramming tactic they were planning, it just wasn't practical to take a toddling child along.

It isn't! she had to reaffirm to herself as the said child was practically staring into her very soul with those huge, brown orbs.

Bo released a frustrated breath as the child started sniveling quietly, but she simply couldn't spend anymore time comforting him; it was time to go. "R5, give me the controls," she ordered, and after a confirming beep, pushed a few switches to get the N-1's engines flaring.

As she gently guided the ship into the air and engaged the thrusters, she was genuinely surprised when her head thumped against the headrest; she expected it to be fast, but not that fast! They were across the flats and circling the town within seconds.

If she wasn't so entirely consumed with worry, she would feel a little jealous over Din's seek little starfighter.

Finding the high magistrate's building, she set down on an empty landing pad.

Without hesitation, she hit the cockpit release and swung out with Grogu tucked under one arm as he continued to wail in a growing pitch. Bo winced with regret, but there was really nothing she could do or say to make things any better. Best to just get it over with. The longer she drew it out, the more painful it would be for the both of them.

Greef emerged from the pad's turbolift sooner than Bo would have expected, but she wasn't about to complain. "I need a favor," she spoke up before he could make a greeting.

The man nodded shortly as they met halfway. "Name it."

Bo held Grogu out to him, though she fumbled a bit as the child clung to one arm stubbornly, his wailing ceaseless. "I need you to take him to a friend on Tatooine. Her name is Peli. The N-1 has the coordinates. He'll be safe there, under Boba-Fett's protection."

Greef stared at her for a sputtering beat. His gaze shifting from her to Grogu as the kid's fit grew more and more distraught by the second. "I could be wrong... But I don't think he wants to go."

Bo sighed in frustration; the last thing she needed was an argument. "I can't bring him on this mission, it's too dangerous." She pushed the child at him bluntly, puzzled at the sharp pain that leaped into her throat. "Take him."

With great hesitation and care, Greef accepted the precious cargo as Bo detached those tiny green hands from her arm. Grogu wailed and thrashed for a moment, until he seemed to finally accept the situation, though his glistening eyes streamed with silent tears.

Bo felt her own eyes beginning to water against her will and she had to set her jaw stubbornly to keep from shuddering with a sob.

"There you go," Greef murmured softly to the child, giving him comforting pats. "See? I'm not so bad."

Bo was about to turn and leave when Grogu made a distinctive vocalization and reached up towards her face with such an earnestness that she could not turn away no matter how much she wanted to.

"Do you suppose," Greef ventured. "He wants to say goodbye?"

Bo sighed again, suddenly realizing why Din had been so disposed to the mannerism himself; looking after this kid was tiring.

Against her better judgment, and perhaps indulging in her own longing for a proper farewell, she took Grogu back and held him in front of her at arms length. "I'll go get your dad and bring him back, ok?"

"Guwagh!' Grogu gibbered back, still reaching for her as if his life depended on it.

She frowned back at him, wondering what it was he wanted, until it occurred to her that he simply wanted to touch her face for whatever reason. She pulled him close and allowed him to do so, feeling a strange calm pass over her as he studied her face intently, as if he were devoting it to memory.

Bo swallowed her emotions down thickly and cleared her throat as she handed him back with finality. "Ok, kid- Grogu," she corrected objectively, earning a head tip from him. "You behave. I'll come back, and your dad will owe me another life-debt." She winked at him and surprisingly, he gurgled a happy noise despite the dire circumstances.

"You know something?" Greef muttered, almost to himself before he looked from Grogu in his arms and back to Bo with a sober expression. "I think he thinks you're his mother!"

Bo blinked back for a beat and narrowed her gaze. "I am no one's mother." She meant it, and yet, her heart twisted at the sound of utter disappointment in Grogu's whine. She made the mistake of meeting his glistening round eyes again. "Oh kid, don't look at me like that. It's not fair."

"If you say so," Greef replied with a shrug. "Be careful out there."

Bo nodded silently and, with more effort than she would have liked to admit, turned away to load back into the small starfighter. "I'll leave the N-1 at camp."

Greef nodded again. "I'll pick it up with my freighter. Good luck."

"Wawergh!" Grogu yowled after her, speaking in a way only he understood... And yet, oddly, Bo felt that some part of her mind had understood him. She sent him a confident smile and fired up the engines again.

Although she would adamantly deny being anyone's mother, she could not stop a small part of her heart from projecting a final farewell at him, not that he could hear her thoughts anyway...

Stay safe, Ad'ika.

AN: The flashback was highly inspired by Zuko/Ursa, Bail/Leia and probably Mufasa/Simba too. I'm a sucker for those tender parent/child moments. xD